The Middle
by crazy-wild-and-free
Summary: Months after Inception, Ariadne's cousin shows up on her doorstep with a black eye, confused and in need of many answers. Since there is nothing Ariadne wouldn't do for family, she automatically wants to do whatever she can to help. Even if that means turning her cousin into the team's newest client and unknowingly pulling the team into a very complicated job. Arthur/OC.
1. Identified

**My first attempt at writing an Inception fanfic. It's OC, though, so I'm not sure exactly how it'll be percieved. But, it's worth a shot.**

**Summary: **_Months after Inception, Ariadne's cousin shows up on her doorstep with a black eye, confused and in need of many answers. Since there is nothing Ariadne wouldn't do for family, she automatically wants to do whatever she can to help. Even if that means turning her cousin into the team's newest client and unknowingly pulling the team into a very complicated job. Arthur/OC._

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.**

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**Chapter 1: Identified**

Sadie made her way through the apartment that she had, up until tonight, shared with her boyfriend, Nate, of two years angrily throwing all of her things into suitcases, slamming doors, and stomping across the floor leaving a huge mess in her wake.

"Sadie, please just calm down and listen to me," Nate said running to keep up with her as she left a path of destruction behind her.

Making her way into the walk-in closet that was once hers she grabbed more suitcases from the top shelf and started throwing all of her clothes into them. "Don't freaking tell me to calm down, Nate!" Sadie hissed through clenched teeth pushing back the strands of blonde hair falling into her face all the while refusing to even look at Nate long enough to glare a hole through his face, even though, at this moment she would've loved it if it were really possible to do just that.

"Sadie, you're overreacting," Nate told her not being able to figure out for the life of him why she was reacting the way she was.

What he just said was enough to get Sadie to look up at him. "Overreacting? Overreacting?! Overreacting, Nate?!" she asked her voice getting angrier and angrier each time she would say the word. "I gave up two years of my life for you and this is how you repay me?!" Sadie hissed pointing at her quickly bruising eye. "You lay your hands on me for some stupid, unknown, most likely pathetic reason!" Sadie hissed pushing him away from her.

"Sadie...I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you. You surprised me and that was my first instinctive reaction," Nate tried to tell her reaching out to touch her arm in a soothing manner.

Sadie shrugged his hand off as soon as she felt his touch. "Don't touch me!" she hissed zipping up her suitcases and storming out of the closet. "I don't want to hear anything that you have to say. You crossed a huge line tonight! A line that you can not cross back over. WE. ARE. OVER!" Sadie informed him when she heard him say her name again as he followed her into the living room. Sadie picked up her other suitcases and threw the apartment door opening making her way out into the hallway.

Before leaving completely, Sadie turned around to see Nate standing in the doorway. "I don't know what you're hiding from me, Nate, but I swear I will find out somehow. After all, there is something you don't want me to know isn't there?" Sadie asked looking him dead in his eyes. "I'm close to figuring something out that you don't want me to know...is that it? Is that why you hit me? Were those texts on your phone that you were looking at something you don't want me to know about? Are you afraid I'm gonna find out your dirty little secret and hate you even more than I do right now? Is that it?" Sadie continued on.

Nate didn't answer and suddenly his eyes were on the floor and he was avoiding her gaze as well as her words at all costs.

"That's what I thought," Sadie seethed. "I _will_ find out what you're trying to keep me from finding out. Since, obviously, it's something really bad if you're willing to hit me and ruin what I thought we had that was supposively a great thing! I promise you that when I find out you better watch your back because when I do...I'm coming for you," Sadie assured him through clenched teeth.

"Where are you going to stay?" Nate asked ignoring everything she was saying. "It's almost midnight."

Sadie rolled her eyes and shook her head ignoring his question in return and stalking down the hallway with all of her bags in tow. She couldn't believe that she had given up two years of her life for nothing. If she had known two years ago that she'd be single again right now after her boyfriend hit her, then she would've just stayed single and not said yes when he first asked her out, period. But, unfortunately, that's not how it worked out at all.

**~TheMiddle~**

Ariadne groaned as she opened her eyes. Her bedroom was pitch black except for the very faint light coming from the alarm clark on her bedside table. Looking over at the clock she saw that it was only a quarter past midnight and let out a frustrated sigh.

Why in the world was she up at such an ungodly hour? Then, she heard the reason why. There was a buzzing sound coming from the living room. It sounded a lot like the buzzing sound that signalled someone buzzing into the building. But, who would be here at this ungodly hour? She hadn't been expecting anyone.

Slowly, Ariadne threw the warm, snug covers off of her, and got out of bed. Slipping on her slippers, she made her way out to the living room and over to the intercom system. Pushing the button she spoke up in a sleepy voice, "Who is it?"

Ariadne was suddenly wide awake when the familiar voice answered her, "Oh, thank god! I'm so sorry to wake you up, but I have no where else to go."

"Sadie?" Ariadne asked surprised to hear her voice after such a long time of having no contact at all.

"Yeah, it's me."

Ariadne wasted no time buzzing Sadie in. Unlocking the door to her apartment, she swung it open and ran out heading down the stairs to greet Sadie at the door. As soon as her feet hit the last step she ran and jumped onto Sadie pulling her into a hug.

"I can't believe it's you, Sadie! You're really here!" Ariadne exclaimed moments later when she let go of her and backed up.

"Well, believe it, Aria, because it's me. I'm really here," Sadie said avoiding eye contact with her.

"But, it's like 12:20 in the morning. Why are you here now?" Ariadne asked curiously finding Sadie's lack of eye contact with her kind of strange.

Sadie sighed and answered, "Nate and I broke up."

Ariadne's eyes went wide, and she found herself asking, "What? Why? I thought everything was going well with you two?"

Sadie shrugged and said, "I thought everything was going well, too, but I guess I was wrong," just as she finally looked up showing Ariadne her face.

Ariadne looked at Sadie, and gasped. Reflexively, Ariadne covered her mouth with her right hand. She was shocked when she noticed that Sadie's right eye was swollen slightly and it was bruising quickly. "What the hell happened to your eye, Sadie?!" Ariadne asked once she finally found her words again.

"I was so mad at Nate during our breakup fight that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I walked straight into the side of a door," Sadie was quick to answer. A little too quick to answer, but Ariadne didn't want to push the subject and make Sadie close up completely.

"Come on, let's get you upstairs, and get your eye cleaned up," Ariadne said taking some of Sadie's suitcases from her and leading her up to the apartment.

**~TheMiddle~**

About half an hour later, Ariadne and Sadie sat on the couch facing one another. Ariadne had cleaned up Sadie's swollen and black eye while Sadie explained what had went on between her and Nate earlier that night that had lead to them breaking they had gotten Sadie settled into the second bedroom that luckily Ariadne's apartment had.

"So, he was texting someone and when you asked him about them he hit you?" Ariadne asked still trying to understand completely what went on between Sadie and Nate earlier that night.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened," Sadie nodded and sighed leaning her head against the wall behind the couch. "I think he's hiding something from me," Sadie admitted after deciding to confide in Ariadne about her fears.

Ariadne cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I just have this feeling that there's something I was slowly piecing together that he was afraid for me to find out about. When I left and mentioned to him that I thought he was keeping something from me he looked down at the ground and refused to look at me, and then when he finally spoke again he had changed the subject completely...only making me think I'm right about him hiding something from me even more than I already thought I was," Sadie explained leaving nothing out.

"Sounds like the actions of someone who's hiding something," Ariadne agreed giving Sadie a sincere look. "Do you think maybe he was cheating on you?" Ariadne suggested shrugging her shoulders.

Sadie shook her head no and answered, "No, that possibility honestly never even crossed my mind. My intuition says it's something worse than cheating. Maybe even worse than I could even imagine."

"Well, a woman's intuition isn't usually wrong."

Sadie nodded in agreement. "I wish I could just somehow get into his mind and find out what's really going on. You know?" Sadie sighed brushing a hand over her forehead and through her hair.

Ariadne's face suddenly lit up.

Sadie noticed this right away and asked, "Why the sudden, "I've got an idea face?"

Ariadne shook her head and shrugged. "No reason." Looking at the clock and seeing that it'd be day where he was, Ariadne abruptly stood up. "I should really get back to bed. I have to be up early this morning. I hope you don't mind. We can catch up later this afternoon if you're up for it," she said.

Sadie shook her head. "No worries, I understand. I'll be here for quite some time, so we'll have a lot of time to talk and catch up."

"Alright, I'll see you later, then. Night, Sade. It's good to have you here!" Ariadne called behind her as she hightailed it to her bedroom.

"Night, Aria. It's great to be here, too!" she called after her reaching across to the table where the tv remote sat. Sadie sat back against the couch and turned on the tv.

**~TheMiddle~**

Ariadne closed her bedroom door behind her just as she heard Sadie turn the tv on. She dove across her bed reaching for her cellphone laying on her bedside table. Then, she proceeded to dial the familiar number of the one person who she knew could get the team together to help Sadie out with her ex-boyfriend keeping a secret from her situation.

She sat indian style in the middle of her bed listening to the ringing sound waiting for him to pick up the phone. It was day where he currently was, and as far as she knew he wasn't currently doing a job, so there wasn't any reason for him not to answer. After what felt like forever, the phone rang a few more times, and then he finally picked up.

"Ariadne?" he asked seeming surprised that she was calling him.

"Arthur," she replied with a smile.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"Then, what are you calling for?"

"I just...how long would it take for you to get here?" she asked curiously.

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Review, please?


	2. One Minute

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.**

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**Chapter 2: One Minute**

Ariadne paced back and forth in the living room impatiently waiting for the buzzing sound that she was waiting for. She wanted Arthur to be there before Sadie woke up. It'd be easier to fill Arthur in before having to explain everything to Sadie. Besides, she wasn't even sure Arthur would agree to helping. After all, when it came to jobs he was very serious and picky about the ones he took.

Ariadne looked at the clock seeing that it was going on 10:55. Sadie would be up in five minutes. When she and Sadie were roommates a few years back when Sadie first moved to Paris before she met Nate and moved in with him, Sadie was usually always up by eleven on the dot. Not a minute later and certainly not a minute earlier.

Sadie was so dead set on waking up at the same everyday that she actually had a rule about it. It was the, "Don't talk to me until either after I've had my coffee or after eleven or else the consequences won't be pretty," rule. Sadie had come up with the rule during her childhood because growing up all of her brothers were known to constantly come into her room and wake her up every morning before she was ready to wake up. As she grew older, it seemed that the rule just stuck.

Ariadne smiled and sighed a sigh of relief when she heard the buzz. She didn't even bother saying anything and buzzed the downstairs door open. Then, she unlocked and swung open the apartment door, and waited as patiently as she could. Ariadne was still impatient enough that she looked from the clock, to the hallway to see if Sadie would appear, and back towards the stairs.

"It's about time," Ariadne huffed when both Arthur and Eames appeared at the top of the stairs. "I didn't expect both of you," Ariadne said with a slightly questioning tone.

"I heard that Arthur was coming to visit you and decided to tag along. How are you, love?" Eames asked in that charming, flirty, accented voice of his.

"I'm good," Ariadne said with a small smile.

"We were working on a job together," Arthur spoke in a slightly irritated tone. "He insisted he tag along."

Ariadne couldn't help but slightly smirk. Eames always did have a way of getting under his skin.

"Well, it's nice to see you both," Ariadne smiled. "Oh, great, you got the coffee!"

Arthur nodded handing it to her. "Who's the extra one you made me get for?"

"Sadie," Ariadne answered with a smile. "Come in," she said before Arthur or Eames could ask who Sadie was, stepping out of the way to let them in.

"So, what's the emergency? You hung up before I could ask you," Arthur said sitting down on the couch.

"Well, it's not exactly an emergency, persay," Ariadne said avoiding eye contact with him. "I just said that because I knew you'd come, and had I told you what I was really calling for you would've said no and just brushed it off."

"Ariadne, I could be working on another job right now, but you said it was an emergency so I came here, instead. Please tell me I didn't blow off a job for nothing," Arthur spoke in his serious business tone voice.

"Stop being such a work-a-holic, stick in the mud, Arthur. Let Ariadne explain," Eames said smirking at him taking a seat next to him in the vacant spot on the couch.

Arthur turned and glared at him, "Shut up, Mr. Eames."

To which Eames' reply was an even bigger smirk.

Arthur rolled his eyes and turned back to Ariadne saying, "Explain why we're here, please, Ariadne."

"My cousin showed up around midnight two nights ago. She had just broken up with her boyfriend of two years, she had a fresh black eye, which she insists was because she ran into a door, which I personally don't believe at all, but I'm not gonna argue with her about it, and lastly she had a suspicion or two that her boyfriend was hiding something from her. And, well, I may have told her that I may have a possible way for her to find out what her ex is hiding from her," Ariadne explained saying the last part a little quieter.

"So, long story short, you want us to invade your cousin's ex's dreams to help her find out why her ex may or may not have been the one to give her the black eye?" Arthur asked.

"Well, yeah, that'd be the long story short way of putting it," Ariadne answered nodding her head yes as well.

"It sounds like he was cheating on her. I don't think we need to invade his subconcious to prove that based on what you've said," Arthur said trying to think of a reason that didn't involved dream sharing.

"No, Sadie insists he wasn't cheating on her and that what he was hiding from her is something even worse than cheating," Ariadne argued because she wanted to not only help Sadie out, but a big part of her wanted to create more. After all, reality just isn't the same anymore now that she knows what other possibilities there are.

"I don't..." Arthur started to say.

Eames interrupted saying, "Oh, come on, darling. It might be fun."

Once again Arthur glared at Eames.

Ariadne looked at the clock and saw that it was exactly 11:00. "Wait, just give me a second. I'll go wake Sadie and then she can convince you to take on this job," Ariadne said turning and running down the hall to Sadie's room.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

It was 11:00 in the morning exactly when Sadie's eyes fluttered open. She was instantly met by the sun peaking in through a small opening in the drapes covering the window. With a groan, Sadie rolled over not eager to get out of bed in even the least bit. She buried her head in her pillow insisting to herself that she wouldn't go back to sleep. She was only resting for a little longer.

It had been two days since her breakup with Nate and surprisingly Sadie couldn't be any happier than she was now. It felt great finally being free of a relationship again. Finally free of having to committ. Free of having to be careful about what she says...what she does. She felt like herself again and wouldn't change what happened days before even if she somehow could.

There was a sudden knock at her door followed by the sound of the door knob turning and the door being opened, then she heard Ariadne's voice, "Sadie, are you up? It's 11:00."

Sadie moaned into her pillow before slowly picking her head up from her pillow and turning to look at Ariadne. "I know."

"There's coffee from your favorite french cafe waiting out here for you," Ariadne said with a smile.

That was music to Sadie's ears. She sat up quickly in bad and threw back the covers. "Give me a couple minutes to get dressed."

Ariadne nodded and backed out of the room closing the door behind her.

Sadie could've sworn that she then heard Ariadne say that she'd be right out. She went ahead and brushed it off as she made her way to the dresser to get out her jogging clothes and put them on. After getting dressed, Sadie looked at herself in the mirror seeing that her eye was still a dark black and blue color. The only bad reminder of that night. Sadie shook her head and sighed slipping on her sneakers before heading out to the living room.

**~TheMiddle~**

As soon as Sadie entered the living room she realized that she had in fact heard Ariadne say that she'd be right out. Sitting on the couch across from Ariadne who was sitting in the arm chair were two guys who couldn't be any more different.

One of them was fair built, had slicked back hair and he wore a light gray three piece suit accompanied by a black tie. The suit was perfectly straightened with not even one single wrinkle on it. He was pretty much perfect from head to toe. The other guy was built bigger and was wearing a suit without the jacket and tie, and he didn't really seem to care whether his clothes had wrinkled in them or not. They were definitely polar opposites.

"Some black eye you've got there, love," the bigger of the two said.

Sadie instantly wished she would've put cover-up makeup on her black eye. Sadie shrugged and said with a small laugh, "I walked into the side of an open door. Clumsy me."

By the look on his face, he didn't believe it. He didn't say anything, though. After all, it wasn't really any of his business to begin with.

"Coffee?" Sadie asked wanting nothing more than that coffee at the moment.

The guy in the perfect suit stood up holding out a cup to her. "Ariadne told me how you liked yours," he said with a slight smile.

"Umm...thanks," Sadie smiled back reaching out and taking the coffee from him, hands momentarily touching, causing a slight chill to run up Sadie's spine, the good kind of chill. "Gonna introduce us?" Sadie asked looking at Ariadne.

"Oh, right," Ariadne spoke as if she had completely forgotten about the plesantries. "Guys this is my cousin, Sadie. Sadie this is Arthur and Eames. We've worked together a couple of times," Ariadne wasted no time quickly getting through the pleasantries and getting to why they were there. "Good news and bad news, which do you want first?" she suddenly asked jumping straight to the point.

"Umm...good," Sadie said sitting down on the arm of the chair next to Ariadne and taking a sip of her coffee.

"Alright, well the good news is we can help you figure out if your suspicions about Nate are real or not."

Sadie raised an eyebrow questioningly. "The bad?"

"It's gonna take some convincing that it's not gonna just end up being a pointless job."

"Job?"

"We'll explain later...if it comes to that point."

"It definitely won't be pointless," Sadie insisted beyond sure of what she was saying.

"What makes you so sure of that, love?" Eames asked.

"Love?" Sadie was amused at being called that. No one ever used a pet name on her before, not even Nate, and especially not someone that she hadn't even known for more than a minute.

"Get use to it. He calls everyone love...or sometimes even darling," Ariadne said with a small laugh. "Although, darling seems to be more for Arthur than anyone else," she added with another laugh.

"With that accent you can call me anything," Sadie said not afraid to say exactly what she was thinking all the while looking straight at Eames with a smirk.

Eames laughed at her statement while Arthur looked like he didn't know what to think, and Ariadne's eyes went wide.

"Sadie!" Ariadne exclaimed her own face flushing in slight embarrassment at her cousins lack of self-control when it came to what she said.

"Was that too blunt of me to say?" Sadie asked suddenly feigning innocence as if she didn't know what she said was a little too out there.

Ariadne shook her head side to side in disbelief. She shouldn't be so surprised, though. She'd come to know and love every part of Sadie's way out there personality. She was family after all. "Anyways, let's get back to the situation at hand," Ariadne said.

Once she knew that she had everyone's attention Sadie spoke up, "Well, getting straight to the point, my suspicions of Nate keeping something from me all started when I came across cipher text messages on his phone...because really what normal person gets texts in cipher form? Most people don't even know cipher."

"Which kind of cipher?" Eames asked more interested in what could possibly soon be classified as the next job than he was a few seconds ago.

Sadie shrugged. "I don't know. It could be any of them, but if I had to guess it looked a lot like simple substitution, but I never got the chance to cipher it."

"Do you have the texts by any chance?" Arthur asked reminding Sadie that he was even in the room.

Sadie nodded pulling out her phone and opening her pictures scrolling through to get to the pictures she took of the messages. "I took pictures of them since I didn't have time to send them to my phone and delete the forwards before he caught me. Here," she said handing the phone to him.

A few minutes later, Arthur handed Sadie her phone back. "After we decipher these messages we'll know if there's a reason to make a job out of this or not," Arthur said standing up from the couch.

"Can someone just please fill me in on what the heck a job has anything to do with this?" Sadie asked frustrated that she's so out of the loop while the three of them knew exactly what they were talking about.

"There's no reason to fill you in just yet. We'll get back to you later this afternoon."

"Oh, for crying out loud," Sadie sighed looking at the clock on her phone. "I don't have time for this anyways. I'm already a few minutes behind," she said standing up and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Ariadne asked following Sadie's movements.

"For my morning jog. I'll be back in a hour or so. It was nice meeting you guys!" Sadie called back.

"Pleasure was all ours," she heard Eames reply and a small smile made it's way onto her face.

Sadie suddenly hoped that the cipher texts did turn out to be something big. She wouldn't mind at all being around them more often. Especially, Arthur. He seemed so mysterious, for lack of better word, and something about him being so quiet made her extremely curious. And, what better way to get to know more about him than to work along side him? Or whatever the "job" entailed.

**~TheMiddle~**

It was about three in the afternoon when Arthur and Eames returned to the apartment having deciphered the texts. Ariadne buzzed them in without a second thought. "So, what'd you find out?" Ariadne asked opening the door and stepping aside to let Arthur and Eames come in.

"Is Sadie here?" Arthur asked stepping into the apartment.

"Sadie's ex is definitely mixing with some shady business," Eames said following closely behind.

"No, she's not here. She went to get the rest of her things from Nate's place," Ariadne answered closing the door. "What kind of shady business?" she asked directing her question towards Eames once she turned around.

"I'd rather not say until Sadie gets here. It's possibly gonna be a lot to take in," Eames said wasting no time making himself at home on the couch.

"Or at least it will be for her," Arthur added.

"Why for her?" Ariadne asked curiously.

"What kind of relationship does Sadie have with her dad?" Arthur asked suddenly earning a sideways look from Ariadne.

"Does that even have anything to do with the texts?" she asked wanting to know more before answering such personal questions that aren't even hers to really answer.

"More than you'd think," he answered.

Ariadne pondered what he meant for a while before saying, "Sadie's the only daughter, so she and her dad are closer than most dads and daughters are."

Before anyone could say anything else, the door opened and Sadie walked in. Her hands were filled with almost as many suitcases and bags as she had two days earlier when she first came to stay with Ariadne. When she noticed that Arthur and Eames were there she smiled slightly. "Let me put these in my room really quick," she said kicking the door closed with her foot and then making her way to her room.

Seconds later, she returned and took a seat on the armchair across from the couch. "So, what did the texts reveal?" Sadie asked all too eager to get straight to the point.

"See for yourself," Arthur answerd holding out his notebook to her.

Sadie reached forward to grab it and found the cipher texts as well as the ciphered messages written the page. She tried as hard as she could to process what she was reading on the paper. There was no preparing anybody for what she was finding out about the past two years of her life. According to the messages, it didn't take a genius to realize that the past two years of her life really had all been a lie.

"So, based on these, pretty much my dad stole some important program or whatever and Nate was hired by whoever the program originally belonged to to get information about my dad and his whereabouts from me so the program could be retrieved and they could kill my dad once and for all?" Sadie couldn't believe it. She was trying to make sense of it all, but a huge part of her just didn't want to.

"Are you okay, Sadie?" Ariadne asked in a worried voice walking up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't believe that asshole lied to me this whole time," Sadie said suddenly being over run by anger. "How dare he?!"

"Is it safe to say that she's the new client?" Ariadne asked looking at Arthur and Eames who looked at each other and than back at Ariadne nodding.

"What do you mean by client?" Sadie asked placing Arthur's notebook on the coffee table. She couldn't bare to look at it any longer.

There was a moment of silence before anyone began explaining.

"Our job is to break into people's subconcious' and steal valuable information," Arthur spoke matter of factly.

Sadie raised a eyebrow. "Your job is to what?" Now that was something she never thought she'd ever hear in a million years. "You break into people's dreams for a living? That sounds so...so unreal...so impossible...so weird."

"Don't knock it til' you try it, love," Eames smirked earning a laugh from Sadie.

"Clever one," Sadie laughed with a roll of her eyes.

"Just ask, Ariadne. Once you get the hang of it it's hard to stay away," Arthur smiled glancing in her direction.

Sadie looked over at Ariadne with a questioning expression on her face.

Ariadne nodded her head. "It's true."

Sadie turned her attention back to Arthur. "So, you're saying your job of breaking into dreams is like a tattoo or potato chips? You can't just do it once..."

"For lack of better similies, yes." Arthur nodded.

"Interesting," Sadie mumbled quietly to herself. "So, what exactly do you all have to do when breaking into dreams?" Sadie asked suddenly more interested than she thought she'd ever be.

"Well, I'm the architect," Ariadne was the first to answer.

Sadie looked over at her with a look on her face urging her to explain.

"I create the mazes for each dream level."

"There's levels to a dream?" Sadie asked suddenly feeling like she was in Algebra class again having to learn all the steps to showing her work for every problem that required it. "It sounds like a lot of work."

Ariadne shrugged. "I quite enjoy it."

"Well, you get to do what you love, so, of course, you'll enjoy it. Me, however...yeah, it just sounds like a lot of work." Sadie once again turned back to Arthur and Eames."So, what about you two? What do you do?"

"I forge into anyone the subject knows if need be," Eames smirked seeming quite proud of his abilities.

Sadie's head was suddenly filled with so many thoughts and images and she couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds very interesting."

"It defininitely can be."

"And, how about you, Arthur?" Sadie asked most interested in finding out what his dream ability is.

"I'm the point man," he answered looking at her.

Even the words together sounded badass. "So, you're the researcher as well as the one who does the killing and other dirty work, then?" Sadie guessed with a small smile.

"Just about."

Sadie smirked to herself and couldn't help thinking, "He could kill me in a dream any day. I would not object at all." Realizing what she was thinking, Sadie mentally slapped herself upside the head. "Stop that, Sadie. You barely even know that guy and you're already going crazy over him. It's too soon." After scolding herself, Sadie asked out loud, "So how does this work then? I mean, how are we going to go about the situation with Nate?"

"We somehow have to get to him when he's sleeping. We'll sedate him so he doesn't wake up before we can get out."

"Well, luckily, I still have a key to his apartment and he's a very hard sleeper," Sadie said matter of factly with a mischievious grin on her face. "Just name the time and we're set."

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Review?


	3. Judas

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.**

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**Chapter 3: Judas**

After a few minutes of arguing with Arthur that she should go under as well and finally winning the arguement, Sadie closed her eyes laying on the bed that she once shared with Nate and the next time she opened them she was in his dreams. She looked around spotting Nate sitting at the bar. From what she had been explained before going under, Nate was the dreamer, so it was his subconcious filling the dream with people and the layout of the dream was all him, which didn't surprise Sadie much that it turned out to be a bar. Nine times out of ten when awake Nate always had a beer bottle in his hand. So, it only made sense he'd dream about also drinking the whole time he was asleep, too.

"Go talk to him and see if you can coax him into telling you more about what he was hiding from you," she heard a voice from next to her say.

Sadie turned her head to see Arthur standing next to her. "Won't he know what's going on if I just go up and talk to him?" she asked curiously.

Arthur shook his head. "He won't be able to tell you're real and not a projection," he answered motioning his head towards the other side of the room.

Sadie followed his movement and saw a projection of herself entering the bar. "He's projecting me in his dreams. I don't get it."

"There's obviously a reason for him projecting you. Either he's got a guilty conscience and his subconcious is forcing him to deal with it or he just uses his dreams to help him get by in the real world."

"What do you mean by that?" Sadie asked a confused expression taking over her face.

"Some people use their dreams and projections of others as ways of admitting things that they wouldn't in reality. For instance, it's possible that the reason why Nate was able to lie to you for two years was because he was admitting everything to his projection of you," Arthur explained.

"So, his projection of me knows everything, then?" Sadie questioned looking at Nate and then to his projection of her.

Arthur nodded.

"Then, why don't I just go talk to her? I'd really rather not talk to him."

"You can't do that. If you did that, then Nate would know he's dreaming and that we were in it once you wake up and your projection goes to talk to him."

"Couldn't I just kill her after I get the info I want? That wouldn't have any bad consequences would it?" Sadie asked looking over at Arthur.

Arthur met her gaze and smiled briefly seeming to have gotten a kick out of Sadie's question.

Sadie shrugged. "I'm just wondering," she said with a small laugh. "So?"

"You could, but again he'd know it was a dream when you disappear and there's no one to take your place."

Sadie sighed slightly annoyed at the idea of actually having to go talk to Nate. All she really wanted to do was punch him and scream and bitch at him about wasting the past two years and ruining her life. But, it was a dream and unfortunately there were rules to dream sharing. What a shame.

"So, what are we gonna do about my projection? If I'm talking to him and she shows up, then our cover would be blown. Speaking of which, what would happen if our covers were blown?"

"Nate's projections would attack and kill us," he answered simply.

"Why?"

"Because when the dreamer realizes they're dreaming their projections start to become like security, so to speak, for the subject's mind."

Sadie nodded in understanding. "One more question, if this ends up all going wrong before our time runs out how are we going to get out of here? Am I going to have to kill myself? Or will you do that for me?"

"Whichever you prefer if you decide quick enough."

Sadie thought to herself and smiled. "Definitely you." Sadie felt a chill run through her and suddenly brushed off the thought. "I'd prefer you because even in a dream the idea of killing my ownself is kind of creepy and nerve racking."

Arthur nodded. "Alright, I'll keep an eye on you, and if anything goes wrong I'll take care of it."

Deciding that she knew enough now, Sadie nodded and said, "Let's get this over with, then."

"I'll distract your projection while you talk to Nate."

Raising an eyebrow, Sadie started to ask, "How are you going to do that? Didn't you say...oh, nevermind. You know what you're doing."

Without another word, Sadie made her way over to the bar hoping that Nate's subconcious would be stupid enough to actually mistake her for her projection. She looked over to see Arthur making his way over to the projection of her. Feeling slightly better knowing that her projection self was distracted, Sadie sat down next to Nate at the bar.

He looked over at her as he brought the glass he was drinking from you his lips. "You're late," he said simply.

For a moment, Sadie didn't know what to say. But, then she realized that he had in fact mistaken her for the projection of her. Therefore, she went along. "Are you sure you were thinking of me hard enough. It's mind over matter after all. You could've wished me here faster."

A smile played on his lips as he set his drinking glass down. "Humourous as always."

Sadie shrugged and smiled, "I have my days."

"Indeed you do."

"So, why the sad face tonight?" Sadie asked deciding to start of simple before trying to get the truth from him.

He shook his head and didn't reply.

"Nate," Sadie said forcing herself to place a hand on his shoulder in a soothing manner.

Nate looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly closed it.

"You know you can tell me anything," Sadie said in as much of an assuring voice she could.

"I screwed up," Nate finally admitted after another moment of silence.

Sadie didn't say anything. Instead, she just gave him a look that urged him to go on and assuring him that she'd listen. So far, it seemed she was just like his projections of her. It made Sadie wonder if his projections of her were as similiar to her in real life than was possible? She wouldn't put it past Nate's subconcious to project such a similiar person.

"The guys I told you about the other night...they know that I didn't get the information they paid me for and now they've decided to take matters into their own hands."

Well, that was just great. Not only was she getting less answers than she was expecting to originally now she was being left with more questions with no answers. To make matters worse, she had no idea who these guys he was talking about were and it sounded like based on what he was saying that someone's life was in danger. It didn't take a genius to realize that it was probably hers, too.

"What do you mean by matters into their own hands?" Sadie couldn't stop herself from asking.

Without hesitation, Nate answered, "I think they're planning on kidnapping you, forcing the information they want out of you, and then killing you once they get what they want."

Sadie's breath caught in her throat and she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. Was it even possible to have a panic attack in a dream? If it was, then she was about to have one. And, if it wasn't, then she was gonna have one anyways.

"I'm so sorry for getting you caught up in this," Nate said talking to her as if she was real and not just a projection.

So, Arthur was right, then, when he said, "it's possible that the reason why Nate was able to lie to you for two years was because he was admitting everything to his projection of you."

"I never meant for it to go this far. I expected to get in, get the information, and get out. But, you were harder to crack than I expected, and now it's come to this. It wasn't suppose to get out of hand like this."

As if she had flipped a switch within herself, Sadie felt her anger boiling in her blood. He betrayed her trust. Based on what he just said, it was easy to realize that their whole two years of a relationship was only him trying to complete the job. He didn't really love her. He was just using her. He betrayed her worse than if it turned out he just didn't love her anymore. But, in actuality he never loved her at all.

Before she could even think about her actions or remember that she was in someone else's dream or remember what Arthur said about projections and their overprotectiveness of their subject's mind, Sadie's hand was on the back of Nate's head and she was slamming his head into the hard surface of the bar, knocking him out instantly.

In a flash, Arthur was at her side, grabbing her and pulling her away from the bar. Looking around, she saw all the projections staring at her. They all looked liked predators getting ready to attack their prey. It was now that Sadie finally realized what she had just done. She had alerted Nate's projections to what was going on.

Arthur pulled her into a momentairly abandoned hallway. "We have to get out of here, now," he said wasting no time pulling a gun out.

Sadie's eyes widened. She definitely hadn't expected it to go down like this. "What are you...?" she started to ask before Arthur interrupted her.

"We don't have time," he said placing the barrel of the gun against the side of her head. "You might want to close your eyes for this."

Sadie looked at Arthur slight panic in her eyes. Even the thought of dying in a dream now scared her half to death. She knew she'd wake up right away, but it still wasn't something that sounded very appealing. No matter how much she joked about her being okay with it as long as someone else was doing the killing.

"It'll be okay. Just take a deep breath and close your eyes. I'll make it quick and painless."

Sadie nodded, took a breath, and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew she felt a heavy blow to her head and then everything went black.

**~TheMiddle~**

As soon as she awoke, Sadie was gasping for air and shot straight up in the bed. She frantically grabbed at the IV in her arm and yanked it out, wincing slightly as it dislodged itself from her arm. She threw it on the bed at her feet and put a hand over her mouth as she jumped out of the bed making a beeline for the bathroom not even making an effort to close the door behind her.

She made it just in time as everything from the dream came together; what Nate had told her, her losing control and blowing their cover, and Arthur shooting her in the head; too much for her to handle and she lost it. Over and over again she got sick. Weirdly enough, each time she felt a little bit better. Once she was done, Sadie put the lid down and flushed before sitting back against the cold wall bringing her knees up to her chest and laying her head on her kneews.

What had she gotten herself into? A part of her wished she had never asked for help in the first place. Maybe she was better of not knowing that he days on the Earth may be numbered now. Maybe two years ago she should've trusted her gut instinct and turned Nate down even after doing it two times before. After all, third times a charm. Or maybe when she was 10 and she met her dad for the first time she should've listened to her moms warning of not letting her dad be involved in her life. So, many choices that she could've made different decisions for. Things would probably be a lot different now had she made different decisions back then when she had the chances to.

A minute or two later after calming down as much as possible and cleaning up the bathroom to make sure Nate wouldn't suspect that anyone had ever been there upon waking up, Sadie retreated back to the bedroom.

"Are you okay?" Ariadne asked in a worried tone of voice standing up abruptly and walking over to Sadie once she saw her walk out of the bathroom.

"Honestly, I've been better," Sadie answered fixing her ponytail.

"What happened in the dream, love?" Eames asked curiously.

Sadie looked over to where he was standing. She hadn't even remembered he was there. Her mind was not in the best shape at the moment. She shook her head, and answered, "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"Sadie..." Ariadne started to say, but was cut off.

"Right now, I just need a few drinks," Sadie said just as Nate started to move on the bed. "Besides, we need to go now. I think he's starting to wake up."

* * *

Review, please?


	4. Middle Of Nowhere

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Middle Of Nowhere**

"Would you like some company, love?" Eames asked as Sadie walked down the hallway away from them.

"Thanks for the offer, but no. I just need to be alone right now," Sadie called back turning the corner leading to the elevator.

Once Sadie was out of site and hearing range, Ariadne turned to Arthur. "What happened in there?"

"I honestly don't know. I can only guess that he told her something that made her mad because before I knew it she was smashing his head against the bar, and then our cover was blown so there was no time to ask questions."

Ariadne sighed suddenly wishing she had forced Sadie to tell her what happened. But, at the same time she knew it would only make Sadie close up completely. It's what Sadie did. She ran and shut up when she was scared. Sadie wasn't the type who liked showing her vulnerabilites. She'd rather people see her as a strong, independent woman. However, everyone does have their moments.

"She'll be back," Ariadne sighed starting to make her way down the hall to the elevators.

"What do you mean, she'll be back?" Arthur asked jogging to catch up with her.

"When Sadie gets drunk she gets confrontational. She'll end up getting drunk and coming back here to give Nate a piece of her mind," Ariadne explained and moments later as they approached the elevator suggested, "Maybe one of you should go after her and make sure she goes home instead of coming here. I would, but I have classes tomorrow."

**~TheMiddle~**

"Another shot, please," Sadie said to the bartender as she leaned against the bar. She was drowning the day in alcohol. Part of her was hoping that maybe tomorrow she'd be so hungover that the events of tonight would be completely hidden by everything else in her mind. But, knowing her luck she'd be hungover as well as aware of everything that happened.

Just as she downed her second shot, Sadie sensed someone sit down on both sides of her. She looked up as she slammed the shut glass down on the bar in front of her. "I thought I said I needed to be alone?" she spoke without even looking at the two who were blocking her in with no way to go but backwards.

"Now, darling, you should know something about me. I never pass up an opportunity to have a drink," Eames said motioning to the bartender who placed a drink in front of him moments later.

Sadie guessed that this wasn't the first time Eames had been to this certain bar. "Of course, you don't," she said holding her glass up and shaking it in the bartenders direction signaling her want for a third one.

"How many of those have you had already?"

Sadie looked to the other side of her. "Fancy seeing you here, Arthur. I've had two. The next one will be my third," she answered already feeling the affects of the first two shots.

Sadie eyed the drink in Arthur's hand and looked up at him, "I would've never taken you for the drinking at bars type. You seem so serious all the time and like the stick in the mud type."

On the other side of her, Eames laughed. "See, I'm not the only one who thinks that."

Arthur glared at him. "Shut up, Mr. Eames."

Sadie's face lit up almost instantly and she looked back to Eames. "So, Eames isn't your real name?"

Eames shook his head.

Sadie smiled as innocent of a smile as she could and asked, "Then what is?"

"That's for me to know and you to wonder about."

Sadie frowned. "Well, that's sucky of you," she scoffed in annoyance. She wasn't use to not getting what she wanted very often.

Turning back to the bar she saw that she didn't have another shot in front of her yet. Not doing anything to hide her annoyance, she called out, "Bartender! Where's my other shot?!"

Moments later, the bartender placed the filled shot in front of her.

"Thanks," she said grabbing the shot and downing it without a second thought.

She smiled as the shot burned on it's way down. The best kind of alcohol. Sadie always did say the best alcohol was the kind that burned it's way down her throat. On ice wasn't as good. And, wine just didn't cut it. But, shots...shots definitely hit the right spot. The first time she had ever had a shot was when she moved to Paris at 18. Thanks to the age limit in the US she didn't get to drink any alcohol there. Well, not legally anyways.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sadie saw a woman looking in her direction. She wasn't exactly feeling comfortable with her looking their way. It didn't take long for Sadie to realize who exactly the woman was looking at.

Sadie looked at Eames and said, "Will you please do something about her?"

Eames raised and eyebrow asking, "Something about who?"

"About that woman over there who won't stop looking at you. Her looking over here is making me really uncomfortable right now," Sadie answered matter of factly.

Eames laughed and stood up. "I'll take care of her."

"Thanks so much," Sadie smiled feeling a sudden feeling of jealousy, but just brushing it off as the alcohol making her feel things she wouldn't usually feel all the while turning her attention to Arthur as Eames walked away, drink in hand.

"So is dying in dreams always so nerve racking?" Sadie didn't give him a chance to answer as she went on, alcohol definitely made her a chatter box, "Because at first the aspect of being killed by someone as mysterious and attractive as you," Sadie smiled at Arthur before continuing, "It was kind of...exhilarating for lack of better words. But, yeah, it was exhilarating, but then when the time came for you to kill me when I blew our cover I suddenly felt the urge to jump out of my own skin and head for the hills and never return." Again before Arthur could answer, Sadie added, "And, please, don't give a long explanation answer, cause it'd be a waste of breath. I probably won't remember it tomorrow."

"It depends on the person. Some get use to it after a while, but others never do," Arthur answered.

"How about you? Did you ever get use to it?" Sadie asked curiously.

"Honestly, there are still some times that I get nervous when it comes down to having to kill myself to escape a dream."

Sadie smiled, "At least you're honest." Sadie was silent for a moment before saying, "You know who isn't honest?! My dumbass ex of a boyfriend. I wasted two years of my life for nothing at all. Well, other than the fact that my days on Earth are now numbered because of that dumbass and his non-existing honesty. It makes me so mad thinking about it!"

"Your days are numbered?" Arthur asked not expecting her to say that.

"Yeah, Nate said that, "I think they're planning on kidnapping you, forcing the information they want out of you, and then killing you once they get what they want," and then I proceeded to smash his head into the bar," Sadie answered feeling angry just remembering it. "As if he didn't already do enough damage. Can I let you in on a secret?"

"It depends on what kind of secret."

Sadie ignored him and told him anyways, "I didn't really get my black eye from walking into a door. I walked in on Nate while he was texting more of those cipher messages the other night and then I asked him about them, but he told me that they were nothing importante and that I needed to forget what I saw, but, of course, me being me, I didn't so he got mad and he punched me. Then, I proceeded to break up with him because I always said I don't care what reason, if a guy ever lays a hand on me it's over. I have no intention of ever being a guest on The Steve Wilkos Show, so no, just no. It was over the moment he balled up his fist."

**~TheMiddle~**

A couple shots later, Sadie was finally ready to go home. All she wanted was her cozy, warm bed and most of all sleep. But, there was no way she'd get there on her own. She was far too gone to do most things on her own. It was a surprise to her that she could even form words. So, maybe she wasn't as drunk as she thought she was. But, she still wasn't willing to chance it. And, plus, if she wasn't so drunk, then why would she still be going on and on about Nate. Maybe drinking all of those shots wasn't such a good idea, after all. It's a little too late for thinking of what could've been, though.

"I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. I feel like such a dumbass. I mean I was raised by a spy for crying out loud! I should know when someone is using me or not. I really am such a dumbass at times, and the past two years have been 600 plus times that I've been a dumbass. Such. A. Dumbass," Sadie couldn't stop rambling on as Arthur led her out of the bar.

Suddenly, Arthur stopped abruptly in his tracks. Sadie followed suit since he was the only thing holding her up and keeping her butt from hitting the concrete sidewalk below. Sadie wondered why they had stopped all of a sudden. They were blocks from the apartment, and they were the only ones on the deserted sidewalk.

Sadie relaxed as Arthur's hands came up to cup her face, moving her to look him in the eyes, "You're not a dumbass. Don't ever call yourself that again."

"How would you know? You've only known me for like less than 12 hours now," Sadie said guessing since she had no idea what time it was.

"I just know. It's a part of life for everyone to mess up every now and then. You can't change that fact. It's not a fact that any one really likes, but none-the-less it still happens."

Sadie nods her head in understanding.

Moments later, Sadie paid more attention to where Arthur's hands were placed and felt a familiar warm and tingling sensation where it shouldn't be at a moment like this. Sadie swallowed hard and said, "I'm just letting you know now, but I tend to get really horny a lot faster when I've had a few shots, so it'd be wise to stop touching my face before I do something that's really gonna be embarrassing once I'm sober."

Instantly, Arthur dropped his hands from Sadie's face and smiled slightly replying, "Thanks for the warning."

Sadie smiled back just as she stumbled and almost lost her balance, "You're welcome."

Arthur quickly grabbed a hold of her arm and wrapped his other arm around her waist to steady her. Then, they were walking again.

"Hey, Arthur," Sadie said as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry you had to put up with my drunken rambling for the past few hours. You must think I'm nuts right now," she apologized sincerely suddenly beginning to feel a bit embarrassed about everything she admitted to him tonight.

"No need to apologize. And, I don't think you're nuts either. It was quite an interesting night to say the least."

Sadie had a feeling that that wasn't exactly something he often admitted. After all, she did remember hearing Eames calling him a stick in the mud earlier that night.

* * *

Review, please?


	5. Dark Side

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Xavier, Sadie's dad.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Dark Side**

Sadie's head was killing her when she woke up the next day. Her vision was blurry, and she was already regretting all of the shots she had taken the night before. She made a mental note to never drink without moderation again. But, she knew the next time she had the chance she'd forget it and do it all over again. She was use to it now.

Throwing her covers off of her, Sadie sat up a little too quick. Her head pounded and she fell back down, her hands instantly going up to her face. She groaned as she sat up again slower this time. Sadie took her time getting out of her bed and slipped into her slippers before making her way out of the bedroom. She found herself having to use the wall to support herself or she would've fall backwards on her butt.

"It's about time you woke up," Ariadne asked looking up from her book as she heard Sadie walk into the kitchen.

"What time is it?" Sadie groaned having not even thought to check her alarm clock when she first woke up.

"About three in the afternoon," Ariadne answered. "How are you feeling?" she asked wondering if Sadie felt as bad as she looked.

"I feel like my head's been pounded into a brick wall over and over again," Sadie answered honestly grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"There's advil in the cabinet next to the fridge," Ariadne said before returning her attention back to the book she was reading.

"Thanks," Sadie said opening the cabinet and grabbing the bottle of advil opening it and taking three before putting it back.

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Ariadne broke it when she asked, "So do you want to talk about last night?"

Sadie didn't answer at first as she took the advil with a few sips of water. "What's there to talk about?" she asked leaning against the kitchen counter.

Ariadne put a book mark in her book and closed it, laying it on the table in front of her. She then stood up and walked over to the counter leaning against the opposite side as Sadie.

"Arthur mentioned that you smashed Nate's head into the bar when you were dreaming," Ariadne said.

Sadie sighed and replied, "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

What he had told her at the time had pissed her off, but now the thought really scared her. What if what he thought was true? What if her days on Earth really were numbered. She'd cheated death once before, but what if this time she knew it was coming and there was just nothing she could do to change it? What if it really was her time to go and it was quickly approaching? The possibilities made her shutter.

Ariadne nodded in understanding seeing the sudden look of fear take over Sadie's facial expressions. "You don't have to tell me now. I'll be here when you need to talk about it with someone. That's if you feel the need to."

"Thanks, Aria," Sadie smiled at her.

Ariadne returned the smile, "Anytime."

"I'm gonna go get dressed," Sadie said pushing herself off of the counter.

Almost stumbling backwards, Sadie grabbed the counter and steadied herself. Then, she made her way down the hall to her bedroom. Once she was in her room, she sat on the bed with her cell phone in her hands. She contemplated calling her dad and demanding answers. In the end, her anger and curious side made the decision for her. She dialed the all to familiar number and waited for him to answer.

"Sadie," her dad's voice came from the other end of the line.

"You owe me a huge explanation, dad," Sadie said wasting no time jumping straight to the point.

There was a pause.

"What do you mean? About what?" her dad asked curiously.

"You stole a program dad! My life is at risk now because of it! Why didn't you tell me?!" Sadie asked keeping her voice as calm as possible.

"How do you know about the program?" he asked after not saying anything for a couple of seconds.

"Ariadne introduced me to a couple of guys who deciphered some text messages for me."

"What text messages?"

"Nate turned out to have been hired by the guys you stole the program from."

"Oh."

"Oh? Oh? Is that all you have to say dad?!"

"Sadie..." her dad started.

Sadie cut him off instantly. She knew that tone of his voice. She'd heard it too many times since he first stepped foot into her life when she was 10. "Don't start with the excuses dad! You owe me the truth!"

"Sadie, I can't...it's hard to explain. The less you know the better."

"What the hell dad? I deserve to know! My life is ruined now because of you stealing whatever that program is that you stole! The last two years of my life have been a lie because of you and your actions! I deserve nothing but the truth right now!"

"I can't tell you anything without putting your life in even more danger than it already is now."

"Dad! For crying out loud! Nate didn't get the information from me that those guys wanted, so now they've said that they're taking matters into their own hands. Nate thinks they plan on kidnapping me, forcing the information they want out of me, and then killing me afterwards!"

"Which is exactly why you don't need to know anything."

"What the hell, dad?"

"Sadie, the less you know the bigger the chance of you surviving is. If they think you know something that they want to know they'll keep you alive longer."

"Why are you talking as if they're gonna kidnap me?"

There was silence on the other end for a while.

After a couple of terrifying minutes on Sadie's part, her dad answered, "Because if they really want to kidnap you and get answers, they're gonna do so, and there's no way to stop them. Especially these guys."

Sadie's heart almost stopped right then and there. She had never felt so scared in her entire life. Her dad had put her life in certain danger because of what he did. Sadie wondered if he had even thought about how his actions would affect her when he first chose to steal the program. He probably hadn't knowing him. What was so important about that program that her dad had put her in such a position. Did that program mean more to him than she did? It sure felt that way at the moment.

"You've put my life in certain danger, dad. I can't believe you. Did you even think how my life would be affected by you stealing the program? You didn't, did you? Because if you had, then you wouldn't have stolen it in the first place."

"Sadie..." her dad said trailing off.

"Don't, dad. I can't...I just can't talk to you anymore right now," Sadie said angrily hanging up before he had the chance to say anything else. Sadie threw her phone onto the bed next to her. Then, she lost it. She couldn't keep the tears from pouring out down her face like it was the new Niagara Falls. If she were to say she wasn't afraid for her life right now she'd be lying hugely. She couldn't believe the path her life was taking right now, and she didn't even have any control over it at all.

**~TheMiddle~**

It was an hour or two from being dark, and Sadie was finishing up a few errands. She was watching her back, looking over her shoulders, and paying more attention to her surroundings than usual. Even though, she was scared to death of what she'd learned in the past 24 hours she couldn't let it stop her from doing the neccessary things she had to do. She couldn't let it eat her away on the inside. She had to power through it.

Sadie refused to live what could possibly the last few days or weeks or months of her life in a state of depression. Like the saying went, live every day like it's your last, and that's exactly what Sadie was planning on doing. No matter how afraid she was of the things she knew and also the still unknown, she had to do what she could to make sure that if things did end badly that she had no regrets and didn't go out feeling like a failure.

Sadie was walking down the sidewalk paying close attention to her surrounds when she suddenly stopped abruptly in her tracks. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she got a nervous feeling in her gut. She looked around quickly swearing up and down that she was seeing shadows of people ducking into alley ways as she looked around.

A shiver went up and down her spine and she suddenly had the urge to run to a place where there were many people and to call someone. That's exactly what she did. When she was in a well lit and crowded cafe she sat down at an empty table and pulled out her phone. Sadie went into her contacts and smiled at the first name she saw on the list. He must've added his number when he was texting the cipher texts to his own phone. She felt a sudden feeling of warmth for whatever reason as she looked around the cafe before pushing the call button and putting her phone up to her ear.

As soon as he answered the phone, Sadie spoke, "I think I'm being followed, and I'm freaking out right now."

"Where are you?" he asked.

Sadie looked around for a sign somewhere having paid no attention when she first came in. "Umm...Le Café Charbon."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Arthur," Sadie smiled into the phone feeling a lot better knowing that he was on his way.

**~TheMiddle~**

It wasn't long until Arthur arrived. He came in and sat down across from Sadie. She smiled a smile of relief when she looked up and saw him there. Even with him there, though, she was cautious of her surroundings. Everytime she thought she saw a shadow of a person she would look in the direction to make sure it was a real person's shadow, and not just a shadow of someone ducking and hiding.

"I am scared to death right now," Sadie admitted putting her head in her hands.

Arthur had a concerned look on his face as he asked, "What happened?"

Sadie sighed and looked up at him. "I called my dad and demanded answers. He didn't tell me anything really except for the fact that the guys he stole the program from are guys who always get what they want one way or another, so it's very possible that they will end up kidnapping me and carrying out whatever they have planned if that's what they want to do."

"I won't...I mean, _we_ won't let that happen, Sadie," Arthur assured her placing a comforting hand over hers on the table.

Sadie looked down upon contact and bit her lower lip out of slight nervousness. She couldn't figure out why she felt like that suddenly. She didn't even know him that much, and yet he was having this weird effect on her. Sadie had never before been the type to ever feel the way she was feeling now over any guy. So, maybe it was just lust based on the fact that even though she'd been with Nate for the past two years he hadn't treated her half as good as Arthur had treated her in only a day and some hours of knowing her. Yeah, that's probably what it was.

"Could you walk me home? I don't feel safe walking on my own right now, even if it is light out still."

Arthur nodded as he stood up and head out his hand to her. "Of course."

"Thanks," Sadie smiled taking his hand and standing up as well. "I'm glad I met you," Sadie admitted as she followed Arthur out of the cafe.

He smiled back at her, "Likewise."

"Can we take the park way back to the apartment?" Sadie asked with a small, nervous smile.

"That's longer than the other way," Arthur answered a questioning look on his face.

Sadie shrugged her shoulders and said, "Yeah, I know, but I just really want to take a walk in the park."

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it seeming to decide against what he was originally going to say. Instead, he just simply said, "Alright, the park way it is."

Sadie grinned. "Great!"

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Sadie decided to break the silence asking the first thing that came to mind.

"So, are you really as much of a stick in the mud as Eames claims you are?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Arthur asked caught off guard by her question.

"I mean, obviously Eames must be on to something if he constantly calls you a stick in the mud. Right?" Sadie asked turning around to face him while she walked backwards. "Also, so far from the moment I first met you, you've had this completely serious, professional vibe to you," she added when he didn't jump to say anything. "Well, except for a few moments last night, you sort of broke away from your professional self, then."

"I usually don't have time in between jobs, so I don't make it a habit to break away from my professional side," he finally spoke.

"Surely, there's more to you than just your professional side's personality," Sadie replied inquisitively reaching up to push a strand of her hair out of her face.

"Not really."

"So, you've never taken a break to have some fun every once in a while, then? Not even between jobs?"

"Nope."

"Okay," Sadie said stopping abruptly in her tracks causing Arthur to bump into her.

"What?" he asked curiously taking a step back from her.

"Once things settle down a bit, you know with the whole my life is at risk situation, once it's settled down a bit I am personally going to drag you away from your always professional attitude and you're gonna live a little," Sadie said matter-of-factly in the sternest tone she could muster.

"You make it seem like I'll be sticking around here for a while," Arthur said to her.

"Well, obviously with my life at risk, you're not just gonna pack up and leave...right?" she asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"Of course, not," he answered without hesitation.

"Well, then, when the problem is taken care of I'm going to take you out with me and..." Sadie abruptly stopped mid sentence. "Well, no, I don't mean take you out on a...that's not, yeah, I mean just like out as friends," Sadie couldn't figure out how to bounce back from that, so she quickly turned around and started walking. "We should just go," she called back to him not even bothering to wait for him to catch up as she walked faster.

Talk about awkward.

**~TheMiddle~**

"Umm...well...thanks for walking me back here," Sadie smiled at Arthur as she opened the front door to the apartment building she and Ariadne lived in.

"No problem," Arthur replied with a smile similiar to Sadie's.

"Did you want to come up?" Sadie asked suggestively. "I mean, if you want. If you don't have anything else to do. You don't have to if you don't want to. I was just suggesting it to be polite," Sadie started rambling on as she opened the door and stepped into the building.

"I'm in no hurry," Arthur answered following her into the building and up the stairs to the apartment.

The rest of the way up to the apartment there was complete silence.

"Hey, Aria! I'm back," Sadie said entering the apartment.

"Get everything done that you wanted?" Ariadne asked putting her phone down on the coffee table and writing something down folding it up, and placing it into her pocket before standing up. "Hey, Arthur," she smiled politely when she noticed him standing there.

"Yeah, for the most part," Sadie answered closing and locking the door.

"What do you mean for the most part?" Ariadne asked raising an eyebrow.

"I had this weird feeling that I was being watched and followed, so I ended up hiding out in a cafe and calling Arthur to come walk me home," Sadie explained slightly laughing at how it sounded when put all together. She felt slightly like she was a little kid again needing mom to hold her hand to cross the street safely.

"Did you actually see anyone?" Ariadne asked not being to stop the question from passing through her lips.

Sadie shook her head no. "I had a moment of complete cowardness, and ran inside the cafe instead of investigating like I usually would have. Well, anyways, I'm gonna go change into something more comfortable. I'll be right back."

Once Sadie was in her room with the door closed, Ariadne turned her attention to Arthur. She pulled the paper she had written on moments ago out of her pocket and handed it to Arthur. Arthur opened it and found a number written on it. He raised an eyebrow, curiously.

"When you get back to your apartment, call it," Ariadne simply instructed.

"Who's number is it?"

"It's Xavier's."

"Whose?"

"Xavier, Sadie's dad. Apparently, Sadie called her dad earlier this afternoon and mentioned that a couple of guys had helped her get some information. He called me a few minutes ago and asked me to give his number to said guys. Something about he has a job offer for you and Eames, too," Ariadne explained loud enough for Arthur to hear, but quiet enough that Sadie wouldn't.

"What kind of job offer?"

"He didn't say, but I think it has something to do with Sadie," Ariadne answered shrugging her shoulders walking to the fridge and getting a bottled water out. "He has quite a bit of money, so the pay will definitely be good. It's up to you whether you call or not."

"Does Sadie know anything about it?" Arthur asked.

"Not unless Xavier told her something when they talked earlier, but it didn't seem like she knew anything. If she did, then she'd be pissed off and going crazy right now."

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening filled the apartment, and Sadie made her way out in shorts and a t-shirt showing off more skin than she should have with Arthur currently in the apartment.

"What are you two talking about?" Sadie asked curiously walking over to the armchair and plopping down in it.

Ariadne and Arthur both shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders in unison almost like they had practiced the moves a few times before she came back out. "Nothing," they both lied simply.

Sadie looked at them and Ariadne was afraid she'd say something about not believing them, but she didn't. What a relief on her part.

* * *

Review?


	6. Miss Nothing

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Miss Nothing**

Ariadne looked over at the clock after she heard a buzz coming from the intercom system and frowned. It was 11:30 at night. Who would be here this late at night? Standing up, Ariadne made her way over pushing the talk button.

"Who is it?" she asked catiously.

"It's Arthur."

"What are you doing here this late at night?"

"Just let me up," he answered urgently.

"Okay, fine. Come up," Ariadne said worried by the sound of his voice pushing the button to unlock the front door and then unlocking and opening the apartment door just as Arthur appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Where's Sadie?" he asked entering the apartment when Ariadne stepped aside.

"She's in the shower," Ariadne answered closing the door.

"How long has she been in there?"

"Umm...not long...why?" Ariadne asked very confused by Arthur's non-Arthur like actions and awkward question after awkward question.

"I got a call from Xavier about an hour ago," he answered.

"What? He called you? Why? I thought the deal was to delete each other's numbers and not have any contact again after you and Eames agreed to stick around and watch over Sadie while he tried to fix things?"

"He's offered to pay us half of what he's already paying us to keep Sadie safe if we perform Inception on her."

Ariadne's eyes went wide. "I'm sorry...what?" Ariadne asked not believing her ears. "Inception on Sadie...why? What for?"

"He said that after a few weeks of thinking, he's realized that things may never get better, and that Sadie is better off if she thinks he's dead. Apparently, just telling Sadie he's dead won't be enough to make her actually believe it so he wants us to perform Inception on her to plant the idea that he's really dead in her head," he explained leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Will that even work? We've never tried to perform Inception on someone with an idea like that. I'm sure it's quite different than what we had to do on the Fischer job. Planting an idea such as someone being dead when they're really not...it sounds impossible. And, above all just cruel if it is indeed possible," Ariadne said trying to make some sense of the situation while also trying to figure out why Arthur of all people would want to try such a thing that could go in many different directions.

"Anything is possible in the dream world, Ariadne," Arthur reminded her.

Reaching into the fridge, Ariadne grabbed a bottled water and then proceeded to get two advil for the splitting headache she suddenly had. "This is unbelievable. I can't do this. I can't perform Inception on my own cousin. I coudn't imagine what would happen if she ever found out what we did." Ariadne shook her head. "No, just no. This is so wrong on so many levels."

"I know it is, but if it means Sadie will be safer than she is now..." Arthur trailed off as Ariadne raised an eyebrow.

"Are you actually thinking that this is a good idea?!" Ariadne asked in disbelief.

"It may be the only way. We can try to just tell her that he's dead and hope she believes us, but Xavier insists that Sadie won't believe it."

Ariadne shook her head in disbelief and made her way into the living room sitting down on the couch before she lost her balance and ended up on the floor."I'd rather try to convince her that he's dead instead of invading her privacy and ruining our relationship if she ever finds out. Family doesn't do that kind of stuff to family. It's just wrong," Ariadne said refusing to even give Inception a possible thought when it came Sadie.

"Well, see if you can convince her he's dead, then. If not, we have to perform Inception on her. Anything that'll give her a better chance at living and being in less danger than she is now."

Ariadne nodded. "Okay. I'd rather do that than Inception."

"Call me and let me know how it goes," Arthur said making his way to the door after hearing the water to the shower turn off.

Ariadne looked up and asked, "Wait! You're leaving me here alone to tell her?!"

"She doesn't know I know her dad. If I stay, then she'll know something is up and nothing will end well for any of us."

Ariadne sighed an annoyed sigh. "Fine, keep your phone on and don't go to bed anytime soon. I'll call you in the next hour."

Arthur nodded opening the door. "Good luck," he replied before walking out closing the door behind him.

"This sucks so much," Ariadne said to herself putting her head in her hands as she waited for Sadie to emerge from the bathroom.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie turned off the water and stepped out of the shower wrapping her hair in one towel and wrapping another one around her body. She could swear she heard someone talking quietly out in the living room, but because of how late at night it was she just brushed it off as probably Ariadne just had the tv volume up to loud.

Walking over to the counter, Sadie wiped the mirror off and stared at herself in the mirror.

It had been weeks since Sadie's whole world had been flipped upside down. Ever since then, Sadie couldn't even manage to leave the apartment on her own without feeling like she was being followed or feeling like she wouldn't make it home that day. Therefore, she'd been escorted everywhere she had to go by either Arthur or Eames everyday for the past few weeks. The only good things about the past few weeks were that she was still alive at the end of the night, she found a confidant in Arthur, and she found a drinking buddy in Eames.

She still, however, felt like a little kid again needing someone with her at all waking hours and she hated her dad for it so very much. Yet she still loved him because, after all, he was her dad. Had he never come back into her life or stolen that stupid program then Sadie would be living her life as a normal human being. But, she wasn't lucky enough for that. Instead, she was stuck feeling like a prisoner in her own skin. There was nothing worse than being free, but at the same time not being free. She was living in her own personal hell.

A couple minutes later, Sadie was dressed for bed, and she walked out into the living room planning on saying goodnight to Ariadne. The first thing she noticed was that the tv wasn't on. So, who had she heard talking a few minutes ago, then? The second thing she noticed was Ariadne sitting on the couch with her head in her hands.

"Are you okay, Ariadne?" Sadie asked catiously walking over to her.

Ariadne looked up and took a deep breath before answering, "I've got something to tell you...and, I don't think you're gonna like it."

"Ariadne...you're scaring me...what is it?"

"Your dad is..." Ariadne paused almost not sure if she even wanted to say was she was about to say.

"Ariadne, what about my dad? What is my dad?"

Ariadne looked at the floor as she said, "He's dead."

Sadie blinked her eyes a couple of times and shook her head. "No, no he's not. You're lying to me. He's not dead, Ariadne! Don't lie to me! He's not dead!" Sadie insisted refusing to believe what she was hearing just like Arthur had told Ariadne Xavier said she would.

"But, he is," Ariadne told her quietly forcing herself to keep up the lie even though she really didn't want to.

She knew it was wrong. So, so very wrong. But, if it really meant Sadie would be safer and stand a better chance at making it out of whatever it was alive...then it was a risk she was going to force herself to take. No matter whether the outcome was bad for her own self. Just as long as Sadie was okay, that's all that mattered.

Sadie shook her head in complete denial. "You're lying Ariadne! You...you...he's not dead!" she exclaimed turning and running into her room slamming the door behind her.

Ariadne plopped back down onto the couch. She was mentally cursing herself for going through with the lie, but she really didn't want to have to perform Inception on Sadie. Lying was just so much easier than performing Inception on Sadie and having Sadie maybe one day finding out the truth and hating her for it for the rest of eternity.

Shaking her head, and hating herself for it, Ariadne grabbed her phone and dialed Arthur's number.

"How'd it go?" Arthur asked skipping the pleasantries when he answered the phone.

"She's in denial and doesn't believe it. We're going to have to try and perform Inception. I don't know if it's actually gonna work or not. I feel horrible about all of this. But, I'll create the maze levels tomorrow. I can't believe I'm actually going to go through with this," Ariadne answered hanging up without another word.

This was far from what Ariadne had wanted to happen. But, it was out of her control. It was going to happen one way or another. Whether she was a part of it or not, and she knew it. So, why not just make it easier and get it over with quickly before anyone else, namely Sadie, found out what was going on. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to explain Inception to her all those weeks ago. Now one minor slip up, and Sadie would definitely know and hate them all for it., which Ariadne was putting her money on. After all, Ariadne always was one to expect the worst, but hope for the best.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie refused to believe it. There was no way her dad was dead. It had to be some kind of joke. But, then who would ever make up such a joke? So, obviously it wasn't a joke. Still, she just wouldn't believe it. There was no way that he was really dead. Right? It had been a few weeks since she'd last talked to him. He just didn't call because she told him she couldn't talk to him then. Yeah, that's it. That's what it was. He was alive and just being respectful of what she wanted.

Needing reassurance, Sadie grabbed her phone from the bedside table and dialed her dad's number. She got the answering machine. A terrifying feeling settled in her stomach, and she found herself calling again. Just like the first time she got his answering machine again. She suddenly began to panic. Oh god! Oh god! No, he just wasn't answering for a good reason. She was sure of it. She refused to believe otherwise. She just simply refused to.

Without another thought, Sadie got out of bed, unwrapping the towel from her head throwing it to the floor, and walked over to her closet. She put on the first dress and pair of heels she got her hands on. Not even caring about what her hair looked like, Sadie walked out of the room. She just had to get out of there. The apartment suddenly felt like a prison cell and she was quickly losing all of her sanity that was left by being there.

**~TheMiddle~**

"Where are you going?" Ariadne asked abruptly standing up from the couch when she heard Sadie's heels clicking on the hardwood floor.

"I'm going out," Sadie answered simply not bothering to look at her cousin.

"Alone?" she asked walking towards her.

"I'm 22 years old, Ariadne! I'm very much capable of going out by myself! I don't need a freaking babysitter or bodyguard or whatever when I go out!" Sadie snapped suddenly turning on her heel and spinning around to glare at Ariadne.

Ariadne took a few steps back surprised by Sadie's outbreak. "Umm, okay, then," Ariadne spoke not being able to form any other coherent words.

"I'm sorry, Aria. I didn't mean to snap at you," Sadie said moments later having lowered her voice back down to normal.

Ariadne shook her head, brushing it off. "No, it's fine. It's understandable for you to be acting like you are."

"I just need some air. And, a drink. Okay? That's it. I'll be back before you know it," Sadie said with the door open and on foot already out the door giving a small glance in Ariadne's direction.

She nodded.

"Don't wait up, Aria!" Sadie called over her shoulder as the door shut.

Ariadne wasted no time grabbing her phone and pushing the redial button.

"Sadie just left. If I had to guess she's heading to the nearest bar. Just keep an eye on her okay? The situation is already screwed up as is."

* * *

Review?


	7. The Cycle

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Cycle**

Sadie came to with a familiar headache that was almost becoming a second nature feeling for her everytime she woke up. She really needed to find a new outlet for everything bad she was going through lately. Preferably, a new outlet in which drinking was not involved in any way or amount what-so-ever. Maybe yoga or something. If only she had the time.

Slowly, Sadie sat up and looked around taking in her surroundings as quickly as her mind would process them. It didn't take long to realize she wasn't in her own bed, nor was she even at home. She was in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar place, and yet she could hear sounds from outside that let her know she was still in Paris somewhere.

Sadie pushed the covers off of herself, and shivered as the cool air hit her exposed skin. Looking down she realized she was still in the dress from the nightbefore. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up room she was in had a bed, two nightstands on either side of the bed, an armoire, and a dresser. It was pretty simple, but it was still kind of warm and inviting. Almost like...oh gosh! Why was she thinking of him again? He was invading her mind after only a couple of weeks. What the heck was wrong with her?

Not being able to control her urge to look around, she found herself walking around running her curious fingers along the furniture. It was simple black furniture. The color and type of furniture someone would buy if they were rarely home, but still liked to come home to something that looked good, but didn't make you just want to turn right back around once you stepped foot inside out of boredom.

"Sorry, it's quite boring in here," a voice said catching Sadie off guard.

She suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights and froze up. A few seconds later she gained control of herself again and turned around to find Arthur standing in the door way, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

Sadie shook her head, and replied, "It's not boring. It's...it's so you. And, I'm sure you don't stay here that much, so there's no reason for it to be anything other than what it is now."

There was a silence between the two and they both just stood where they were. Can anyone say awkward?

"So, this is your place, then?" Sadie found herself asking stupidly when she couldn't bare the silence any longer.

Arthur nodded answering simply, "It is."

"So, why am I here, if you don't mind my asking?" Sadie asked mentally slapping herself in the head afterwards.

What kind of question was that? If that didn't sound like a way of saying "I don't really want to be here,' then other than bluntly saying so nothing else would. Except, she actually wanted to be there and didn't mind one bit that she was.

"You don't remember anything about last night?" Arthur asked her pushing off from the doorframe and stepping into the room.

Cue Sadie's breath catching in her throat and suddenly feeling week in her knees just because of his entire presence in the room. "Well, based on my hang over headache, I know I drank last night, but only that," she managed to answer once her voice came back to her.

Oh gosh! That was the second time he had to deal with her drunk. He must think she's lost it or something. Or that she at least has a drinking problem. Definitely not helping to make herself look good in front of him. Oh, yeah. She definitely had to find another way to hide away her sorrows. She could not afford to look like an alcoholic or someone who culdn't handle any pressure in her life in front of him anymore.

"You drank more than your body could handle last night. You got sick before I could get you to your apartment, so I brought you here instead," he told her.

Oh gosh! She'd even gottan sick in front of him. If he wasn't currently in the room she'd probably throw herself on the ground and throw a childish temper tantrum of some sort because of her actions around him. Although, it's not like he'd already seen her at her dumbest. Why not show her childish side to? It couldn't make him think any less of her than he probably already does now.

"Umm, well, thank you," Sadie said smiling briefly.

"Anytime," he replied with a matching brief smile.

"I wasn't as bad as I was the first drunken night, was I? I mean, I didn't try to sleep with you or anything, right?" Sadie asked before she could stop herself. "Oh, no. Nevermind. That was a stupid, unneccessary question. I should really work on my bluntness."

Arthur shook his head and laughed. "It's fine. I wouldn't expect anything less. It's nice to meet a girl for once who doesn't pretend to be someone she isn't."

"Aw, thanks," Sadie blushed profusely her face turning a crimson red.

"You're welcome."

"So, I should probably go home now. It's still light out so it can't be but so late," Sadie said suddenly feeling awkward just standing there and doing nothing.

Arthur took Sadie by surprise when her suggested, "Or you could just stay the night again."

"Um...I'm sorry...what?" Sadie asked doing a double take and staring at him with wide eyes.

Arthur shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, it's already a little past five. You could just stay here and sleep off your hangover...go home tomorrow."

"I don't have a change of clothes, though."

"I'm sure I can find something for you to wear."

"Umm..uhh..." Sadie couldn't form a coherent thought and nervously tapped her fingers on the dresser avoiding eye contact with him. She couldn't think of any excuse to leave. Quite frankly, she was more than okay with staying, anyways. So, excuse or no excuse, it wasn't going to make a difference. "Alright," Sadie said with a nervous smile, laugh.

There was an awkward silence that filled the room as neither of them would look at the other. You could cut the nervous tension in the room with a meat cleaver. A knife wouldn't even stand a chance.

"So, since I'm staying again...would it be too much to ask if I could take a shower to get this puke smell out of my hair?" Sadie asked removing her fingers from the dresser and taking a step closer to the door and Arthur.

"Bathroom's on the left, towels and washcloths are in the bathroom closet," Arthur answered stepping out of the doorway to let Sadie by.

"Umm, thanks." Sadie smiled practically running out of the bedroom and into the bathroom closing the door and locking it behind her.

Once in the bathroom, Sadie let out a breath of air that she didn't even know she was holding in. She leaned against the back of the bathroom door, and slid down it until she was in a sitting position on the floor, legs pressed up against her body, and her head resting on her knees. This was too much. What had she just gotten herself into by saying yes? Well, okay, probably nothing since there was no proof that Arthur even felt the way she did about him about her. For all Sadie knew it could easily be one-sided feelings.

Sadie sat there for a few minutes unmoving before standing up and making her way over to the shower, stripping along the way; dress followed by bra followed by her panties falling and landing wherever they landed on the floor. She got a couple towels and a wash cloth hanging the towels on the towel rack and holding onto the washcloth as she turned the water on. Once the water temperature was just the way she liked it, she stepped in.

The water, soothingly, cascaded down her body, from her head to her toes. Allowing herself to give into the feeling of the hot water, Sadie closed her eyes, leaning slightly against the shower wall. But, just as fast as her eyes closed they shot back open. She was seeing him when she closed her eyes. And, the fact that the only thing separating them for real was a locked door, it sent cool shivers up and down her spine despite the hot water running over her body.

A warm, tingly sensation suddenly formed at her center and she rubbed her legs together shivering at the feeling. It took everything in her power not to slide her hand between her legs and relieve the tension. Sadie wasn't sure she'd be able to keep her cool around Arthur if she knew that she'd gotten off to thoughts of him in his own shower.

Sadie washed her hair and body using the shampoo and body wash that was in the shower. She breathed in the scent, smiling at the fact that she now smelled exactly like Arthur did. And, if that wasn't already enough, she was soon going to be wearing some of his clothes as well. As if she wasn't already high on Arthur as it was. If only the circumstances were different, then maybe she'd be able to act on her thoughts and feelings for him. But...well, okay, no buts. Screw it.

It was then that Sadie decided that it was her life and she wasn't going to allow her dad (given if he was still alive), her ex, or any of the potential kidnappers to ruin her life any longer than they already had. A few weeks was more than enough time for her to realize she should take back control of her life and let whatever is gonna happen, happen. Especially since if it was gonna happen nothing she really did would be able to stop it from happening in the end. She was just simply denying the inevitable.

Sadie turned off the water and reached out of the shower grabbing the towels she'd pulled out of the closet minutes earlier. She wrapped her hair in one and her body in the other. Then, she stepped out. She bent down picking up her dress and under garments putting them into a neat pile near the door. Then, she heard a knock at the door. She unlocked the door and opened it to find Arthur standing there with clothes in his hand.

"I hope these will be enough," he said handing them to her.

Sadie nodded and smiled taking them from him, "They'll do. Thanks."

"You're welcome," he smiled in return.

Sadie sighed and tried to keep herself from blushing. That smile. Oh god, that smile of his. That smile of his did it. Without a thought Sadie pretended to accidentally lose grip of her towel for whatever reason and it unwound itself from her body and fell to the floor. She was completely exposed in front of him and she couldn't help smirk to herself when even though his eyes grew wide, Sadie saw Arthur's eyes look her up and down.

"Oops," Sadie said innocently playing it off as an accident.

Arthur adverted his eyes from her quickly staring at the wall behind her. "Umm...I would get your towel for you, but...umm..."

Sadie bit her tongue to keep from moaning at the sudden thought of him on the floor in front of her naked self. Oh goodness. Bad, bad thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna leave you to get dressed in private," he said quickly a shade of red taking over his cheeks as he turned on his heel and quickly made his wa down the small hallway, disappearing around the corner into what was sure to be the living room.

Sadie sighed as she bent down and picked up her towel. She didn't even bother wrapping it back around herself as she turned around and walked back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Well, that didn't work out at all how she has wanted it to.

**~TheMiddle~**

It was sometime around midnight when Ariadne's phone went off. Ariadne dived across her bed to grab it.

"Hello," she answered pushing the talk button.

"She's finally asleep," Arthur said from the other end of the line.

"Alright," Ariadne replied simply still fighting the urge to just say no to the whole plan and back out.

She had been contemplating it all day long. The whole time she was creating the maze levels, after she finished the mazes, and even while she, Arthur, and Eames were all going through how they were going to pull off Inception this time. But, something inside her had told her over and over again to just do it. Although, something else inside her at the same time was telling her it still wasn't too late to back out. She could back out at anytime up until they went under.

It was going to be more difficult with Sadie, but it wasn't entirely impossible to do. The dream levels were set, she, Arthur, and Eames all knew what part they'd play, and they had the time they needed to make it another successful attempt at Inception.

Sensing the doubt in Ariadne's voice, Arthur asked, "Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she answered honestly still a hint of doubt snuck it's way through.

"It's gonna be okay," he assured her.

"Yeah, sure."

"Really, Ariadne, it'll all turn out for the best. Sadie will be safer and we can all rest easier."

"We all can?"

"Umm...yeah, we all can."

"Okay, I'll be over soon," Ariadne said, not bothering to get into what he meant by _we_, although making a mental note to find out why he was acting so protective of Sadie lately, hanging up.

Yeah, there was absolutely no backing out now.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie woke with a start screaming uncontrollably with tears running down her face. No matter how much she wanted to deny it and realize it wasn't true she couldn't any longer. Her dad being dead was invading her dreams as well as her reality, and there's no way he'd be dead in her dreams and reality at the same time if it wasn't really true.

"Oh god, no!" Sadie cried gasping for breath.

"Sadie! Is everything okay?" she heard a knock at the door and Arthur's voice from the other side of the door.

Before she knew what she was doing, Sadie was up and out of bed, swinging the door open, and flinging herself against an unexpecting Arthur.

It took him a moment to realize what was happening, but then he placed a soothing hand on her back, rubbing in hopefully claming circles.

"He's dead. He's really dead, isn't he? My dad is dead," Sadie cried soaking Arthur's shirt with her tears.

"I'm sorry, Sadie," Arthur said quietly and sincerely as he stood there with her in the doorway.

"I didn't want to believe it, but...but, something like this can't just be made up in both dreams and reality. It'd just be so wrong and cruel," Sadie sniffled picking her head up and looking up at him.

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it would be."

"Sorry, about your shirt," Sadie apologized calming down just slightly enough that she could breath a little easier.

"Don't worry. It's just water," Arthur assured her.

Sadie smiled at him slightly, wiping her tears from her face.

He smiled back at her with a warm, soothing smile and something awoke inside her, most likely courage, just because of that smile he gave her.

As if she wasn't herself all of a sudden, Sadie stood on her tippy toes and grabbed the back of Arthur's head bringing their lips together in a frantic kiss. She was surprised by her actions. But, she was even more surprised when for a moment he actually kissed her back. But, then he must've realized what was happening because he pulled away from her.

Sadie stepped back from him her face red with a mixture of blush and embarrassment. "Umm...I that..." Sadie tried to say something, anything, but nothing really came out.

"I'm gonna...umm...go out there somewhere," Arthur said turning and walking away abruptly.

Sadie leaned against the doorframe and banged her head repeatedly against it. What the hell was wrong with her? One minute she's crying because her dad is dead, and she finally can't deny it any longer. The next she's kissing Arthur, and making a fool of herself. What the hell? Just really what the hell was wrong with her all of a sudden?

Based on her timing, she wouldn't be surprised if he just thought the kiss was circumstantial instead of actually having any meaning to it.

**~TheMiddle~**

"That fast?" Ariadne asked in disbelief at what Arthur was telling her.

"Yeah, I don't quite understand it either. But, I guess maybe because the idea was straight to the point and general and she already had prior knowledge of him being dead that her mind processed it quicker and more easily than an idea like the one we planted in Fischer's mind. It wasn't an idea that was suppose to take long to set in," Arthur answered.

"Yeah, that sounds possible. After all, you did say that in dreams anything is possible. Also, it generally depends on the person and what their minds are capable of processing."

"Exactly."

"So, is she there still?" Ariadne asked curiously.

"No, she left about an hour ago."

"Alone?!"

"Not exactly. I sent Eames to follow her just to be on the safe side."

"Oh, okay. So, I was wondering if you could come over in the next hour or so."

"What for?"

"I need to talk to you about something before Sadie gets home."

* * *

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	8. Long Shot

**This chapter is more or less just a filler chapter in a way, but it's still important to certain aspects of the story.**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Long Shot**

For someone who said she was gonna cut back on the drinking, Sadie sure did end up back at the bar quickly. But, in her defense, it had nothing to do with her fearing for her life, or her being vulnerable this time. She just simply wanted to enjoy a drink again for once. No reason to get drunk this time. Just a simple drink, that's all. Or that's what she told herself. She could easily stay away if that's what she wanted to do. But, it wasn't. Not now, anyways.

Although, one would argue that she was drinking as an outlet from dealing with her dad being dead. Her dad always did say not to cry over someone dying, but to instead celebrate the life they lived. For once, she intended to take her dad's words to heart. It was the least she could do to make him proud one last time.

But, no, it was really just a drink for the heck of it on her part this time. Or, okay, well, maybe it sort of had something to do with the fact that earlier that day she had made a complete fool of herself with Arthur. Cause' really...what the hell was she thinking when she kissed him? He must've thought she was insane or something.

After the kiss, Sadie had left his apartment faster than she'd ever left anywhere before. She had made a quick stop at her and Ariadne's apartment to change her clothes. Then, she ended up sitting there at the bar with a drink in hand.

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking already?," a very familiar voice asked from behind her stealing her from her thoughts.

"It's never too early," she answered taking a swig of her drink.

"That's true," he agreed. "So, a little birdie told me that you stayed with Arthur yesterday," he smirked changing the subject while sitting down beside her.

"Your point being, Eames?" Sadie asked looking over at him.

"My point being did something happen or not?" Eames asked with a smirk.

"Why do you ask that like you expect something to happen between Arthur and I?" Sadie asked curiously.

"Love, for one, it doesn't take a genius to notice the way you two act around one another. And two, Arthur never takes someone back to his loft unless there's a bigger reason for it."

"How would you know he never takes anyone to his apartment without a reason? Are you suddenly the teacher for Arthur 101?" Sadie asked before she could think twice about it.

"Doesn't matter," Eames answered ignoring both of her questions and switching the subject back quickly. "So, back to you and Arthur."

Sadie shook her head and laughed a little not having the drive to continue arguing with him like she normally would have had. "It's not like that between us, Eames. You must be noticing wrong something wrong if you think there's something more happening between us," Sadie insisted deciding that she would not be the first one to admit her own feelings out loud. What's the point if there was no proof that they were recipricated?

"But, you want it to be more."

"What the hell, Eames? You don't know what I want! I'm perfectly fine with how everything is now," Sadie insisted lying straight through her teeth and knowing instantly that Eames would see right through it.

"Now, love, there's no reason to lie. It's already obvious and out in the open that you both feel the same way about each other. Well, to everyone but the two of you, apparently."

Liquid courage took over after Sadie took another sip of her drink and she admitted, "For fuck's sake! I've already dropped hints about me being attracted to him. Way too many times. Hell, I've been attracted to him from the moment I met him, which is very unusual for me, especially since only two days prior to first meeting him I had just gotten out of my last relationship."

"What kind of hints are we talking? Were they small hints or big hints?"

"I kissed him and I even dropped my towel in front of him. I think those would be classified as the biggest hints one could drop," Sadie said rolling her eyes. "Or maybe I should just jump him? If that doesn't work, then it'd definitely be clear that he doesn't return my feelings."

"Oh, he most definitely returns your feelings, love. He's just too much of a clueless stick in the mud to realize such hints when they're given."

Sadie rolled her eyes and sighed frustratedly. "Yeah, that's a freaking given."

"So, the kiss...was it short and simple in which he could've read it as something other than feelings or..." Eames started to ask.

Sadie rolled her eyes and sighed frustratedly. "For fuck's sake, Eames!" Sadie exclaimed turning to him and grabbing him by the back of his head pulling him into a kiss just like the one she shared with Arthur the day before. Oh gosh, how come it felt right in a screwed up way? Sadie pulled away just as she felt Eames begin to kiss her back. As soon as she pulled away she turned back to the bar and downed the rest of her drink.

They both sat there completely still saying nothing at all for a few moments.

"So, what was that all about?" Eames asked breaking the silence.

Sadie shrugged playing it cool as she answered, "It was just easier to show you rather than try to describe a kiss like that."

"He's blind if he doesn't realize what a kiss like that means."

"It seems he's blind then."

"I guess so."

"Besides, with everything that's going on right now, it wouldn't be the right time for anything to happen between us anyways," Sadie spoke after a moment of silence.

"Live everyday like it's your last, Sadie," Eames told her.

She looked over at him for the first time since the kiss, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"You've never heard the saying before?"

"Well, yeah, I have, but what does that have to do with my situation?"

"If everything goes badly, you don't want any regrets. And, I'm willing to bet that if you don't act on your feelings for Arthur and see where they lead, then you'll regret it."

Sadie looked at him in shock and asked, "Who are you and what have you done with the Eames I've come to know in the past month?" Seconds later she added, "I mean, you just don't seem to be the type to talk in such a meaningful way."

"I don't seem like the type to do or say a lot of things."

"Yeah, that it true."

**~TheMiddle~**

"Thanks for coming over, Arthur" Ariadne smiled opening the door and letting him in.

"What was so important that you couldn't talk to me about over the phone?" Arthur asked turning to face her.

Ariadne thought to herself for a moment trying to decide whether she should simply go for it or slowly ease into what she wanted to know. Curiousity ended up winning in the end and Ariadne found herself bluntly asking, "Do you like, Sadie?" Ariadne was shocked by her bluntness, but just took it as she had once again been living with Sadie for too long.

Arthur's eyes widened and he was taken back by Ariadne's straight to the point question.

"Sorry, I probably shouldn't have rushed into that," Ariadne said when Arthur didn't speak for a while.

Arthur shook his head and nervously cleared his throat. "No, that's fine," he assured her. "I just wasn't expecting that at all."

"So, do you?" Ariadne asked again. "I mean, you've been dropping hints left and right."

"Hints?"

Ariadne nodded. "When you were convincing me to go along with performing Inception on Sadie, you mentioned _we_ would all sleep better knowing Sadie was safer...if you didn't feel something for her, then you wouldn't have been losing any sleep over her situation. And, not only that, but you've been overprotective of her lately. The type of overprotective that you get when you like someone more than just a friend."

"You caught on to those things," Arthur said with a sigh sitting on the couch.

"I did. I'm quite observant. You already know that, though," Ariadne replied sitting down in the chair adjacent from the couch. "So, you never answered my question. Do you like her?"

Arthur looked at Ariadne and nodded answering, "Probably more than I should."

"What do you mean more than you should? Are you not going to act on your feelings?"

"Why would I? For one, I don't know if she feels the same way. Two, after all of this is said and done I'll be gone onto a new job and it's not like I could just leave or ask her to come with me if something happened between us."

"You don't have to leave," Ariadne pointed out.

"If the next job requires me to then I do."

"Arthur, you really need to separate your professional and personal lives. You actually have a chance at a personal life now. You should try it out and see where it leads. Trust me, you and Sadie are perfect for each other. If only the two of you would realize it already."

"Ariadne..." Arthur started.

"If you're gonna argue with me, then don't even say another word," Ariadne told him. "Just give it a shot."

"How do I know she feels the same way that I do?"

"Trust me, I know my cousin. She feels the same way. It just so happens, though, that when it comes to feeling something for someone she's not as blunt as she is about other things."

"But..."

"No. But, nothing. It's worth a shot, Arthur."

_**~TheMiddle~**_

Ariadne opened the door with a smile. "Have you talked to Sadie?" she asked letting Eames in.

"I just came from the bar," Eames told her sitting down on the couch.

Ariadne closed the door and walked into the kitchen getting a water from the fridge, "You want a water?" she asked politely, looking over her shoulder at him, already knowing the answer.

Eames shook his head no. "Did you talk to Arthur?" he asked.

Ariadne nodded and said with a smile, "He left about 15 minutes ago."

"You think our talks will get them together?" Eames asked looking up at Ariadne as she walked into the living room and sat down next to him on the couch.

Ariadne shrugged, unscrewing the cap of her water bottle and taking a sip. "It's too soon to tell. Arthur still seemed a little doubtful about whether or not Sadie feels the same way."

"Sadie's convinced that Arthur doesn't feel the same way. She said she kissed him and even dropped her towel in front of him and he walked away each time."

Ariadne spit out some of her water at hearing that. "And, yet Arthur still doesn't realize that Sadie feels the same way he does?"

Eames shrugged. "Sadie and I have come to the conclusion that's he blind."

"Apparently so. What's left for Sadie to do now? Jump him?"

Eames laughed. "I'm not even sure that would work."

"Do you think they'll realize that we've been trying to get them together this whole time?" Ariadne asked.

"Sadie, maybe. Arthur...maybe if Sadie figures it out and tells him."

"You really like to tease him even when he's not around, don't you?"

"It's a fun way to pass time. And, he makes it so easy."

Ariadne laughed as a thought came to mind.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just thinking back to a grade school saying. But, let's not get into that."

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	9. Play With Fire

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.**

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**Chapter 9: Play With Fire**

Sadie was out for her morning jog and something just didn't feel right. She had decided days ago that she wasn't going to let the current situation she was in ruin her completely, so she was still going through with her normal routine. Although, she did carry around a purse with a tazer, pepper spray, and a gun just in case. It made her feel safer when she didn't have Arthur or Eames with her.

The hair on the back of Sadie's neck stood up when she suddenly felt a presence behind her. Part of her was telling her to look behind her and see who it was. The other part, however, was screaming to just run faster. After all, looking back never helped anyone in horror movies. It only slowed them down. In that sense, the same probably applied in reality as well.

"Sadie!" she heard a voice call from behind her.

Sadie tensed up, and didn't stop jogging, recognizing the voice right away. It was Nate. Sadie started running faster in hopes of getting away from him. But, she could hear his footsteps getting closer and louder trying to catch up to her. That was the last thing she wanted. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, and just wanted him to leave her alone for good.

"Sadie, please," Nate called after her.

Sadie felt him grab her arm and was forced to an abrupt stop. Sadie turned around quickly, yanking her arm from his grasp as she did. Standing face to face with him for the first time in a while, she glared a hole through him. If only looks could kill she could easily move on with her life. But, she had never been that lucky before.

"What the hell do you want, Nate?" Sadie asked angrily.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Nate answered her looking shocked by her tone.

Sadie shook her head in disbelief and scoffed, "For real? How the hell do you think I'm doing, Nate? I'm at wits end right now hoping and praying every day when I wake up and every night before bed that I make it safely through the whole day."

"Sadie, I'm sorry that you're having to go through all of this. I truly am," Nate told her in a tone that Sadie couldn't tell if it was really sincere or not.

"Yeah, sure you are, Nate," Sadie replied doubtfully as she rolled her eyes at him. "So, is that it?"

"Well, actually..." Nate said trailing off.

"You've got 60 seconds to tell me what you want before I turn around and leave," Sadie informed him in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to have dinner with me tonight?," Nate asked, shocking Sadie beyond belief.

Sadie frowned at him. This was all too stupid to be true. She had to be dreaming. Or at this moment in time if she wasn't, then she was wishing she was. Was Nate out of his mind? What the hell would ever give him any hope at all that she'd ever even think for a second about saying yes to that.

"Are you out of your everloving mind?" she asked in disbelief, a scowl appearing on her face.

"I have something to tell you as well as some things to explain, and I figured dinner would give me enough time to do so," Nate explained nervously shoving his hands in his pockets.

Sadie shook her head and rolled her eyes. There was absolutely no way she'd sit through dinner with him. Even if she had the feeling that whatever he wanted to tell her was something important.

"Hmm...let me think about that. Umm...no," she said simply.

"Sadie..." Nate began.

Sadie looked at her watch and sighed a sigh of relief. "Your minutes up. It was nice talking to you," she said sarcastically turning abruptly and jogging away before he could say another word.

Sadie didn't stop jogging again until she was back at the apartment. She'd decided on her way back that she wanted to invade Nate's dreams one more time to see what he wanted to tell her over dinner. She wanted to know, but she didn't want to know on his terms. Sadie wanted to know on her own terms. Whatever he wanted to explain to her surely he'd explain to her projection because the real her wouldn't give him the time of day in reality, and Nate couldn't bare to live with what he knew without telling one of her.

Upon entering the apartment, a smile lit up her face when she noticed Arthur was there. She could ask him if he'd help her follow through on her plan to invade Nate's dreams again. It was like fate was thinking the same thing she was.

"I'm back."

"How was your jog?" Ariadne asked looking at her.

"It was good," Sadie answered not mentioning her run in with Nate just yet. "I didn't know you'd be here," Sadie said smiling looking over at Arthur.

"I was just about to leave," Arthur said standing up quickly.

"Well, actually, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to ask you something," Sadie said sitting down in the chair across from the couch.

"What do you want to ask me?" Arthur asked sitting back down.

"Umm...well, I had a run in with Nate," Sadie said not saying it all yet.

"What'd he want?" Ariadne asked curiously.

Sadie laughed before answering, "He wanted me to go to dinner with him tonight."

"He asked you to dinner?" Ariadne asked trying to suppress a laugh.

Sadie nodded. "He did. And, no need to suppress a laugh. I pretty much laughed in his face when he asked me," Sadie told her honestly. "Which, brings me to what I wanted to ask you," Sadie said turning her attention back to Arthur. "I was wondering if there was any way you'd help me invade his dreams again."

"Why would you want to do that again?" Arthur asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nate mentioned he wanted to tell me something and explain some things over dinner, but because I wouldn't say yes to going to dinner with him I won't know what it is he wanted to tell me."

"Why didn't you just go to dinner with him, then?" Arthur asked, a hint of what sounded like jealousy in his voice.

Sadie didn't think anything of it, though, even though a big part of her told her to question it.

"Because it'd be awkward to go to dinner with my ex who I hate right now," Sadie answered. "Please, will you help me find out?"

"You do remember what happened last time, right?"

"It won't happen this time. I promise," Sadie assured him. "Please, I really want to know what he wanted to tell me."

Arthur shook his head. "It's to dangerous to go back again. This time we may not be so lucky."

"Arthur, please," Sadie said in a pleading tone.

"No, sorry, I can't. It's too dangerous," Arthur said again.

Sadie sighed frustratedly, but didn't argue any longer. "Fine, it was worth a shot to ask."

She'd just have to find another way to invade Nate's dreams on her own. If only she had a PASIV that she could use. But, the only PASIV she knew of was the one that Arthur had. Now, if only there was a way to get to it.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie put the key in the lock and turned it. Quietly, she twisted the knob and pushed the door open, tip toeing inside with the PASIV case in her hand. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could and then made her way to the bedroom.

Standing in the doorway and overlooking the entire room, she smiled seeing that Nate was already fast asleep. She quickly and cautiously set to work getting everything ready. The first time this happened she had watched Arthur very closely and memorized everything he did just in case a situation like this ever arised. She had a feeling it might, and that feeling had been right.

Sadie sighed as she sat down in the chair across from the bed. She knew she shouldn't be doing this alone. But, she so badly wanted...no, she so badly needed to know what Nate was going to tell her. She was hoping and praying that Nate would want to tell his projection of her since she hadn't let him tell her. She also knew that this was dangerous to be trying...knowing her luck Nate's projection of her would ruin everything.

She knew that she'd likely talk herself out of it if she just sat there any longer weighing the pros and cons. So, Sadie took a deep breath, set the time on the PASIV for about one minute in reality, which if her math was right would give her 12 minutes in the dream, and then pushed the button. She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes falling into a deep sleep.

Seconds later, her eyes fluttered open. Part of her really did know that this was wrong and that she was playing with fire. Anything could go wrong at any second and she'd only have herself to blame. Sadie looked around taking in her surroundings. She was mainly trying to see if Nate's projection of her was anywhere around, but she didn't see her anywhere.

Taking a deep breath, Sadie made her way over to where Nate was and sat down next to him.

Nate saw her and luckily for her he mistook her for her projection again. He wasted no time wallowing in the guilt of what he wanted to tell her over dinner before she turned him down. "She turned me down."

"Sorry to hear that," Sadie said feigning sadness.

"I just wanted to make things right," Nate admitted. "Well, as right as I possibly can."

"How were you going to do that?" Sadie asked curiously.

Nate didn't say anything for a moment. But, then turned to her, and answered, "I was going to tell her that there are three guys here in Paris. They've been stalking her and watching her ever since the break up and they're waiting for the right time to take her."

Sadie kept up her calm and cool composure on the outside. On the inside, however, she was jumping out of her skin and heading for the hills. This was not happening. Maybe, she would've been better off not knowing, after all.

"Don't you think you should've just come out and told her? I mean, this is huge and her life is at risk."

"She turned and left before I had the chance," Nate said.

Sadie didn't say anything back and Nate stayed quiet for what felt like an hour. But, it was more like five minutes of silence in the dream world.

"I really didn't plan on any of this happening."

Sadie almost believed him completely. But, it was hard to trust anything he said really. She couldn't just forget that he had lied to her for the past two years.

"Umm...Sadie," Nate said looking up at her for the first time the whole dream.

"Yeah?" Sadie asked looking back at him.

"You're real aren't you?" he asked her taking her by surprise.

Sadie raised an eyebrow. "Umm...I'm sorry, what?"

"You're the real you aren't you?" he asked again rephrasing the question slightly.

Sadie gulped nervously. What would have brought that question on all of a sudden. "What kind of question is that?"

Nate nodded his head in the direction behind her.

Sadie looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. Of course, it'd be her luck that the projection of her would show up. She looked back at Nate who was looking at her with an angry look on his face. Then, she felt other gazes on her and looked around to see all of the other projections of Nate's subconcious looking at her.

"Umm...uhh...I've gotta go!" Sadie exclaimed jumping up and pushing her way through the crowd of projections who were suddenly all against her.

Well, this wasn't good. Sadie had no idea what she was doing really, but she continued to just randomly create new rooms and twists and turns in the dream. She was the dreamer, thankfully, and the projections were already on to her, so it didn't make no never mind that she was creating new things at a rapid pace. She was already as good as dream dead if the time didn't run out before they caught up to her.

Sadie looked back to see the projections gaining on her. There was no way she'd be able to outrun them all. There was only one of her and god only knows how many of them. It seemed like she had no other way out except to let them catch up to her and kill her.

But, suddenly, Sadie felt a hand grab her arm in a tight grip. Sadie tensed up and quickly looked to see who had her in such a tight grasp. Her eyes widened and she was shocked to find that it was Arthur. And, he didn't look happy at all. It was the most serious she'd ever seen him. To be honest, it kind of scared her.

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Review?


	10. All Night Long

**Warning: This chapter is strongly rated M.**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: All Night Long**

"In here," Arthur said pushing open a door and pulling Sadie into a room that she must've created in midst of all the chaos and her panic of trying to get away.

Instinctively, Sadie shut the door and locked it behind them.

Arthur let go of her arm and turned around to face her. The scowl on his face still there from before. "I thought I told you it was too dangerous to do this again," he seethed with anger.

"You did."

"Then, why did you do it, anyways?" he asked taking a step closer to her.

Sadie adverted her eyes and answered quietly, "Because I wanted to know what he wanted to tell me."

"And, was it worth it?" Arthur asked as the room was suddenly filled with the sound of pounding coming from the other side of the door.

Sadie looked behind her at the door and then back to Arthur shaking her head no. "Not really," she said deciding to keep the truth from him for now.

"How'd you even get the PASIV?" Arthur asked curiously his anger softening slightly, but still very evident.

"I broke into your apartment to get it," Sadie admitted feeling slightly guilty about doing it now.

"I figured that much when I realized it was missing."

"Sorry," Sadie offered.

"I'm sure you are," Arthur murmured under his breath.

"I heard that!" Sadie exclaimed slightly offended, not sure if she liked this side of Arthur much.

"Maybe you were meant to," Arthur told her point blank stepping him closer to her until she could feel his breath on her face.

Sadie opened her mouth to say something, but closed it immediately when she suddenly felt an all too familiar sensation in between her legs. She may not know if she liked this side of Arthur much, but her lady parts sure did. His angry side was turning her on. Maybe, a little too much.

Sadie was brought back to the reality of the dream by the pounding still coming from the other side of the door.

"We don't have long before they most likely get in," Arthur told her.

Sadie nodded in understanding. "What should we do, then?"

"We have three options. One, we can wait for the timer to run out. Two, I can kill you and then kill myself. Or three, we can wait until the projections come in and kill us both."

"Umm...I don't know. I set the timer for a minute, but it's only been like maybe eight so far, so that would mean there's still four minutes dream time. But, I kind of don't want to die so I don't really like options two or three. So, therefore, I think we're at an impasse," Sadie said weighing the options.

"You mean you're at an impasse. I'm not. Quite frankly, at this point I'd prefer two," Arthur admitted allowing his anger at being decieved by Sadie get the best of him.

The sensation between Sadie's legs grew at the thought of him being angry enough to want to kill her. It was only a dream so instead of scaring her the idea turned her on even more. After all, she'd already figured out that angry Arthur turned her on more than he should.

"Let's go with option one," Sadie said quickly letting the feeling between her legs make up her mind for her.

"What would we do for four more minutes?" Arthur asked looking at her cluelessly. "Well, giving that the projections don't get in before the timer runs out."

The clueless look on his face made her feel even more mischeivious, like she was planning on corrupting someone of their innocence, which surely wasn't the case here. But, it was always the thought that counted the most.

Sadie didn't say a word. Instead, she took Arthur by surprise when she forcefully grabbed his head and connected their lips. She was frantic in her actions, dead set on somehow satisfying the sensation between her legs. She needed touch right then and there. Most importantly she needed Arthur's touch right then and there. She was throwing all caution to the wind and giving it a shot.

Sadie momentarily thought back to the day before. She made a mental note to thank Eames for talking her into acting on her feelings for Arthur so she wouldn't regret them if she never got the chance to act on them again. Surely, he'd be pleased with himself. And, quite frankly he should be because this night was just getting started.

She was quickly stolen from her thoughts by Arthur kissing her back. Arthur's lips moved to her neck as his hands cupped her ass, hoisting her up. Sadie wrapped her legs around his waist. She was shocked when her back suddenly hit the wall with such force that she broke the kiss to let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

"Oh god!" she moaned as his lips found her pulse point, sucking on it fervently.

The action caused the butterfly feeling low in her stomach.

Impatiently, Sadie's hands found their way to the coat he was wearing over his clothes and she frantically pushed it off. With that out of the way she moved to the buttons on his shirt, taking them apart one by one until she finally managed to rid him of the shirt completely. Sadie appreciatively ran her hand up and down his slightly toned abs and chest, moaning appreciatively.

Sadie grabbed Arthur by the back of the head and pulled him up to connect their lips again. "I need...not much time left...just, please...something...anything," Sadie pleaded between kisses.

"This? Here?" he asked smirking slightly against her lips as his hand found it's way between her legs making her shiver at his touch with anticipation.

Sadie nodded frantically, gasping, "Yes, that. there."

"You're so wet," Arthur groaned loving the fact that she was wet because of him and only him.

Almost as if she was reading his mind, Sadie moaned, "Just for you."

Arthur smirked pulling away to watch the expression on Sadie's face as he slipped a finger past her panties and slid it into her with ease.

"Arthur!" Sadie called out at the sudden pleasure.

Arthur moved his finger in and out of her at an agonizingly slow pace, loving the way Sadie squirmed against him.

"Another...more...please," Sadie begged panting like a female dog in heat.

Arthur complied and added another just like Sadie wanted. He moved both fingers in and out of her at a more frantic pace than before. Sadie moaned at the feeling meeting every thrust of his fingers with a quick thrust of her hips.

"Arthur, I need you inside me," Sadie declared moments later, his fingers suddenly not enough for her.

Arthur shook his head no.

Sadie groaned in frustration.

"Save it for reality," he told her adding a third finger to ease her frustration a bit.

"Fine," Sadie sighed adjusting to the feel of three of his fingers fucking her instead of two. "But, I'm not gonna be alone in this frustration." Sadie grinned michieviously as her hands were suddenly working on the button on his pants, which was undone in seconds.

Next, Sadie worked on unzipping the zipper and once it was down she slid her small hand past his pants and into his boxers grabbing hold of half erect cock. She basked in the glory of the moan she elicited from him. She started moving her hand around him in tune with the thrusts of his fingers inside her. They quickly set up a rhythm that worked for them both.

Then, just like that it all stopped.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

Sadie gasped for air as her eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was Nate still asleep on the bed in front of her. It was definitely a good thing that she gave him the amount of sedative that she did. Then, she looked over and saw Arthur sitting on the floor, propped up against the bed. He was looking up at her with lust filled eyes that more than likely matched her own.

Frantically, she pulled the IV from her arm, wrapping it up quickly, and placing it in the case with the PASIV. Then, she yanked Nate's out and wrapped it up as well putting it away. Seconds later, Arthur was slamming the case shut and locking it. Sadie wanted nothing more than to jump him right then and there. But, that wouldn't be wise given where they currently were.

Sadie grabbed Arthur's free hand and pulled him out of the bedroom and out of the apartment, letting the door slam behind them. Nate was knocked out cold until the sedative wore off and he obviously already knew probably more about what was going on than he would like for anyone to believe, so it's not like she had to sneak around anymore.

Once in the hall, Sadie took Arthur by surprise yet again when she pushed him up against the wall and kissed him just as frantically as she had in the dream.

"Your place," she said against his lips.

He nodded as they pulled away much to both of their dismays.

"Now," she added pulling him after her as she quickly made her way down the hall towards the elevators.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

How they managed exactly to get back to Arthur's apartment was beyond both Arthur and Sadie. The only thing on either of their minds was each other, and nothing else mattered, which would very much explain the three or four stops into abandoned alleys on their way. The tension was too much to bare the whole way back.

They entered the apartment in a tangled mess of limbs, letting the door slam shut behind them. The dream and their stops on the way back were their foreplay and now it was just about getting straight to the point. There was always later for them to take it slow. But, now just wasn't meant to be taken slowly at all.

Sadie's back hit the door with the same amount of force that it had earlier in the dream. She moaned at the memory as well as the fact that it was happening all over again now. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him closer to her. As close as she could possibly get him without him being inside her.

"Need you inside me now," she moaned arching into him feeling him through her soaked panties and moaning even more.

"Bed," he groaned starting to back up.

Sadie shook her head. "No, right here," she told him wasting no time to reach her hands down working on the button and zipper of Arthur's pants. In seconds, she was pushing his pants and boxers down to his knees at once. "Right now."

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but Sadie silenced him pulling him into a searing kiss.

"Alright, here works just as well," Arthur spoke against her lips pushing her dress up and sliding her panties to the side.

Suddenly, Arthur pulled back.

Sadie groaned in frustration. "What the...?" she started to ask.

"What about...?"

Sadie knew what he was going to ask without him evening needing to finish. "There's no need," she assured him connecting their lips once again.

"Are you on the pill?" he asked.

"Not exactly."

He pulled back and gave her a questioning look.

"I'll explain later," she told him. "But, for now...I really need you inside me. So, shut up and just put it in already," Sadie demanded getting very frustrated and impatient.

Arthur wanted to argue, but he was just as impatient as she was. Without any warning, his hand was back in between Sadie's legs pushing her panties to the side and slipping two fingers inside her, moving in and out at a frantic pace, stretching her and getting her ready for him.

Sadie was putty in his hands, moaning uncontrollably and arching into his fingers, meeting them thrust for thrust. Sadie groaned when he suddenly took them out, but then gasped as she felt his tip at her entrance.

"Oh gosh! Now!" Sadie exclaimed her hands going behind him to grab his ass and pull him into her more.

Arthur obliged and thrust into her, burying himself in her to the hilt, grunting at the feeling of being completely inside her.

Sadie gasped and moaned, arching into him.

"Oh fuck! Please, move!" Sadie ordered thrashing her hips against his over and over again begging and pleading for more.

Arthur pulled out almost all the way and before Sadie could even think of protesting he slammed back into her once again burying himself in her to the hilt. He began repeating his actions over and over again elliciting sounds from Sadie that she didn't even know were possible for one to make.

Arthur's lips were suddenly pressed against hers, and he was running his tongue back and forth along her lower lip begging for entrance. Sadie granted him entrance quickly. Their tongues were in a war for dominance which he easily won with another particularly rough snap of his hips as well as his thumb finding it's way to her clit, rubbing it at a rough pace that matched his thrusts.

"Harder! Faster!" Sadie begged against his lips refusing to pull away as she felt herself approaching her orgasm.

If it was even possible, he did exactly that. Now he was moving at such a rapid pace that with each thrust Sadie was hitting the door with loud thud after loud thud. The neighbors were sure to have complaints about that one. Not wanting to disturb the peace anymore than it already had been, Sadie looked behind Arthur to make sure their wasn't anything in the way, and then pushed herself off the door, sending both of them tumbling down to the floor.

The sound of Arthur's back hitting the floor was extremely loud. Based on the sound that accompanied the impact, Sadie wondered if it hurt. But, if it did, then he was surely putting up an act because he didn't show any signs of pain. Instead, Arthur grabbed her by the back of the head, pulling her down to reconnect their lips yet again.

Sadie grinned mischieviously against his lips befor pulling back and sitting up so that she was straddling him. She looked down at him, the grin growing on her face. Then, she braced herself with her hands on his chest and lifted up only to roughly drop back down. A moan escaped both of their throats. Sadie repeated the action a few more times as Arthur's thumb found her clit again, rubbing at the pace of their thrusts.

All it took was a few more thrusts from Arthur and they were both coming, screaming each others names.

Sadie pulled off of him and rolled over collapsing next to him on the floor.

"Oh my damn! That was...wow!" Sadie breathed out.

"Wow, indeed," Arthur agreed smirking at her.

They laid there in silence for a few minutes basking in the after glow.

Sadie suddenly laughed breaking the silence.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked raising an eyebrow as he turned his head to look at her.

"I was just thinking..." Sadie started, but trailed off as she laughed some more.

"Thinking about what?"

"I told you I'd personally drag you away from being so professional all the time. And, after your performance tonight, I'd say I did just that because there was nothing professional about you," Sadie laughed.

"Oh, you little minx."

"I always get my way," Sadie told him with a smile.

"Oh, I'm sure you do," Arthur laughed at her.

Sadie nodded and stood up. "Oh my!" she exclaimed laughing again.

"What is it this time?" Arthur asked looking up at her.

"We didn't even undress," Sadie laughed looking down to see she was still in all of her clothes and so was Arthur with his pants and boxers around his knees. "Definitely not professional."

Arthur couldn't help but laugh, too.

"So, how about we undress and go for round two?" Sadie asked suggestively already pulling her dress up and over her head throwing it to the floor.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

Arthur pulled out and collapsed next to Sadie on the bed. They were both out of breath and exhausted. Sadie cuddled up to Arthur, laying her head on his chest and sighed a sigh of content.

"You never did explain to me what you meant earlier when I asked you whether you were taking birth control or not," Arthur said once he regained his voice.

Sadie took in a deep breath and sat up quickly, avoiding looking at him.

"You don't have to explain it to me now if you don't want to," Arthur told her rubbing her shoulder soothingly.

"No, it's fine," Sadie said trying not to sound like she was about to cry, even though she was.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked sitting up when he heard the change in her voice.

Sadie nodded blinking back tears. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just..."

"It's okay, Sadie."

Sadie bit her lip and looked back at Arthur. "A couple years ago, I was in an accident, and as a result of that accident I can't have kids. So, really condoms and birth control aren't exactly neccessary," Sadie explained laughing through the few tears that managed to fall from her eyes. "Add that to the list of things going wrong in my life."

"Sadie..." Arthur started but Sadie cut him off..

"If you're gonna say sorry...please don't. I appreciate it, but I've learned to come to terms with it. It's just easier without pity from everybody who knows it. It's just a fact of my life," Sadie sighed blinking back more tears. "I always get difficult situations to overcome. First that, and now the whole thing with my dad stealing that program. But, I'd rather not complain because it's not the worst that anyone's ever had to go through."

"Come here," Arthur said soothingly pulling her to him and laying down.

Sadie layed her head on his chest resuming her position from the minute before.

"It'll all be fine," Arthur assured her pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

A small smile appeared on Sadie's face as she closed her eyes, allowing sleep to overcome her. She really did believe him.

* * *

Review?


	11. When It All Falls Apart

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.**

* * *

**Chapter 11: When It All Falls Apart**

Sadie woke up the next morning to the feeling of a finger tracing the tattoo on her back and kisses being pressed against her neck and shoulder. She smiled at how much of a romantic Arthur was. It had been a very long time since she was woken up in such a way. Nate had never woken her up like this. It was just another thing that made Arthur so much better than him.

Sadie rolled over and looked up at Arthur with a smile. "Morning," she said smiling up at him.

He repeated smiling down at her, "Morning to you, too."

"What smells so good?" Sadie asked suddenly catching a whiff of tasty aroma.

"Breakfast," Arthur answered leaning down to press a kiss to her lips.

Pleasntly surprised, Sadie asked in almost disbelief, "You made me breakfast?"

Arthur nodded. "What? Nate never did anything like this for you?"

Sadie shook her head.

"Well, then he obviously doesn't know the proper way to treat a girlfriend."

Sadie's eyes widened at hearing ths word _girlfriend. _"Girlfriend?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

Arthur smiled and nodded at her. "If you want to be, of course," he told her seconds later.

Sadie grinned grabbing him and pulling him into a passionate kiss. "I would love to be your girlfriend," she smiled against his lips. "But, with your professional self being in control nine times out of ten, wouldn't having a girlfriend pose a problem?" Sadie pulled away and asked teasingly.

"I'll find a way to balance both," Arthur answered. "After all, you're worth it," he added assuringly.

"Aw, I'm worth it. You're such a romantic," Sadie said blushingly and turning a crimson red in the face.

"Yeah, I suppose I am."

There was a moment of silence between them.

"I know this isn't the right time to ask, but I never had the chance to ask you last night if you found out anything new from Nate?" Arthur asked breaking the silence as he sat down on the bed next to her.

Sadie rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement as she replied, "You're right this isn't the right time to ask."

"Better to just get it out of the way."

"Next up we need to work on your timing," Sadie said trying to say or do anything to keep from having to face what she had learned the night before. She wasn't ready for her happiness to be ruined just yet.

"Sadie..." Arthur started to say.

"I didn't learn anything new. My suspicion ended up being wrong," Sadie insisted. "However, you can't argue with the results, so there was in fact a method to my madness last night."

"That is true."

"You know, Arthur...if you like the tattoo on my back so much, I do have a few others," Sadie smirked at him changing the subject as quickly as she could before her could ask her anymore about the night before. She knew she wouldn't be able to refrain from telling him the truth if they continued on the subject any longer. Leaning up so that her mouth was level to his ear, she whispered, "One of which is in a lower, more secret, intimate place."

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Arthur asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow in false curiousity.

Sadie bit her lower lip and nodded.

"But, what about breakfast?"

"I'm sure it can wait," she said laying back on the bed and pulling him down on top of her.

**~TheMiddle~**

A few hours later, Sadie was walking home through the semi crowded Paris streets from Arthur's. She had insisted that she didn't need Arthur to act as a body guard and walk her home, even though he assured her he didn't mind doing it if she wanted him to. Her pride was too big for her to cave and let him despite a part of her actually liking the idea of him walking her home.

Sadie was walking past an alley when suddenly Nate walked out of it and stood in front of her bringing her to a complete stop as she ran into him. She looked up at him and glared. The look on his face was a mix between a glare and a scowl, and he did not look at all happy. Not that Sadie cared. He was probably mad about what had happened the night before.

Sadie was about to say something to him when he grabbed her arm and dragged her into the alley with him. The next thing she knew, before she could even react, Nate pushed her and her back connected with the cold brick wall behind her, painfully. She winced at the pain and stepped away from the wall unintentionally closer to Nate.

"What the hell are you doing, Nate?" Sadie asked angrily when she was able to find her voice to speak up.

"What the hell am I doing? What the hell am I doing, Sadie?" Nate shot back just as angrily as he pressed her back into the wall. "The real question is what the hell were you doing last night in my dream?"

"I had to find out the truth somehow!" Sadie exclaimed pushing him away from her.

"And, you figured invading my dream was the way to do it?" Nate asked her regaining his composure from the push.

Sadie shrugged her shoulders as she answered, "Well, obviously, you weren't going to tell me in reality. So, if invading your dream was the way to do it, then, yes, that's exactly the way."

"You didn't ask," Nate said.

Sadie couldn't help but laugh a little at him saying that. "Seriously, Nate? Is the fact that there are three guys who want to kidnap me and demand answers from me that I have no freaking clue about really something that I should have to ask you to find out about?" she asked in disbelief.

Nate ignored her and said, "All you had to do was ask."

Sadie laughed again. "Umm...the last time I asked about this situation you ended up giving me a black eye," she reminded him looking at him as if he had some sort of memory loss.

"That was different," Nate told her through clenched teeth.

"Don't clench your teeth at me! And, really, that was different? How was that different? Please, do tell. How was that any different than what you would've done had I asked you what else you were hiding from me? Please, I really want to know."

Nate didn't reply.

Sadie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That's what I thought," she said turning to walk out of the alley.

Nate grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "You are just as much at fault here as I am."

Sadie spun around in an instance, her jaw dropped and eyes wide. "I'm at fault? Really, Nate? I'm at fault? Fault over what?"

"You lied to me, too. You kept secrets from me, too," Nate told her.

Sadie didn't say anything back, but looked at him as if to tell him to keep talking.

"Last night wasn't the first and only time you invaded my dreams," Nate confessed to knowing.

"Well, when you put it that way...it seems that we're both liars," Sadie said, but then added, "Except I lied to find something out to save my life. You lied to ruin my life. There's a difference."

"I know all about the dream sharing business," Nate admitted moments later ignoring what she had just said to him. "And, I know you somehow got involved in it."

"How do you know about it?" Sadie asked curiously.

Nate shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter," he answered.

Sadie shook her head and sighed. "I'm leaving," Sadie told him turning to leave again.

"Watch your back, Sadie," Nate called after her.

Sadie stopped walking, but didn't turn around.

"Next time you get pulled into an alley or you answer the door without seeing who it is first or something else...it more than likely won't be me," Nate told her.

"Whatever, Nate," Sadie muttered before leaving the alley heading home to change before going back to talk to Arthur.

**~TheMiddle~**

After going home and changing into something more suitable and comfortable for the daytime, Sadie found herself guiltily back at Arthur's knocking on the door.

"I lied to you earlier," Sadie admitted to him avoiding eye contact as soon as he opened the door.

"About what?" Arthur asked, his voice lined with a hint of confusion and concern while he stepped aside and let her in.

Sadie thought for a moment about how she should answer and then as she walked into the apartment and turned back around to face him answered, "I told you earlier that I hadn't found out anything new from Nate when actually I had."

"What'd you find out?"

Sadie swallowed the lump in her throat and answered, "He said that there are three guys hiding out around town waiting for the right time to..."

"Sadie..."

"I'm sure that you can fill in the rest," Sadie said quietly biting her lower lip nervously.

"What made you tell me?" Arthur asked curiously.

Sadie looked up at him. "I ran into Nate on my way home earlier."

"Again?"

"I almost think that I should be more worried about and afraid of him than I should whoever else is after me," Sadie answered with a nod of her head. "Oh, and also, apparently Nate knows about the dream share business."

"He knows? How?"

"My thoughts exactly. He refused to tell me anything else," Sadie said with an annoyed sigh. "As it turns out he was keeping more than I originally thought from me."

"So, I guess, I'm not going to be able to let you out of my sight anymore."

Sadie sensed a bit of overprotectiveness, but could tell that Arthur was trying to hide it. Most likely for her own sake because he knew she didn't like to feel like she was weak. Therefore, she let it slide and didn't question it.

Sadie laughed briefly and asked, "Is this your professional or personal side talking?"

"A little bit of both," he answered honestly pulling her closer to him.

"Well, you did say earlier that you were going to do your best to balance them," Sadie said smiling as she wrapped her arms around and leaned her head against him.

"I did say that, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it so far."

Sadie nodded pulling away and taking a step back. "So, I was wondering if you had any plans for the next few hours because Ariadne's not gonna be home for a few hours and I'm kind of feeling iffy about going home and being alone for so long, and I was thinking maybe you could come over until she gets back."

"I do have something to do," Arthur told her.

"Oh, okay. That's fine," Sadie said nonchalantly with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Why don't you just stay here?" Arthur asked.

"I have some things to do around the apartment," Sadie answered.

"I could call Eames and have him go over and keep you company," Arthur suggested.

Sadie thought for a moment before asking, "Would he actually be willing to keep me company somewhere that isn't a bar?"

"There's more to him than meets the eye," Arthur said and the sudden expression that took over his face made Sadie believe that he hadn't meant to say that.

Sadie raised an eyebrow and questioned curiously, "How would you know that if you spend most of the time bantering with each other?"

Arthur shrugged and suddenly switched around the direction of the subject. "So, should I call Eames or not?"

Sadie nodded saying, "Yeah, sure."

_**~TheMiddle~**_

Sadie wasn't the least bit surprised to see that Eames was already there when she got home again. She walked to the building door in silence and unlocked it, pushing the door open and stepping inside holding the door open for Eames. She was just waiting for whatever Eames was going to say. The whole way home she had prepared herself for any and everything he could possibly say to her.

"I'm surprised that you didn't pick your way into the apartment," Sadie said when the silence became too much for her.

"Eh, I figured I'd do something legal for a change," Eames replied from behind her.

"Well, that's a definite first. At least since I met you it is," Sadie laughed.

Eames laughed as well, following her up the stairs.

"So, somebody looks happier than usual today. You seem to be glowing," Eames said, the smirk was evident in his voice even without her looking at him.

"Your point being, Eames?" Sadie asked avoiding looking at him to hide the blush currently staining her cheeks and instead focusing on unlocking the apartment door and opening it.

"You know what my point is. You're glowing and happier and over the phone Arthur sounded happier and less professional than usual," Eames spoke making a beeline for the couch.

"You want something to drink?" Sadie asked closing and locking the door before making her way into the kitchen.

"Love, are you trying to change the subject?" Eames asked smirking at her.

Sadie looked at him and glared briefly. "Do you want something to drink or not?" she asked again.

"No, thanks."

"Oh, please let there be some Peach Schnapps here somewhere," Sadie said to herself turning around and beginning her search for alcohol in the fridge and cabinets.

"So, care to fill me in on the events of last night?" Eames asked refusing to let the subject go.

"No, no, and no," Sadie said finding the bottle of Peach Schnapps and unscrewing the top drinking straight from the bottle. "I'm already regretting agreeing to let you keep me company," Sadie frowned making her way into the living room, Schnapps bottle in hand, and plopping down in the arm chair adjacent to the couch and Eames. "Change the subject," Sadie said.

"Okay, I get it. You're not willing to tell me about it. Showing is more your thing," Eames smirked at her, referring back to the kiss from a few days before.

Sadie's eyes widened and she took another sip from the bottle. "Oh god! I knew that'd come back to haunt me. I just didn't think it'd be this soon," she groaned sinking down into the chair.

"What? Are you not up for it this time?" he asked noticing Sadie's reaction.

If this had been a different guy and different situation, Sadie would've answered with a no right away. But, something made her think about it, instead.

When Sadie didn't answer right away, Eames laughed. "You're thinking about it, Sadie?"

Sadie looked anywhere, but at Eames and couldn't find the words to speak. This was definitely some sort of current hell. Why in the hell did she even have to think about it? There wasn't any reason to think about it. Right?

**~ThisMiddle~**

Much to Sadie's happiness, Ariadne returned from her classes an hour or so later. So, she didn't end up having to avoid Eames' questions or questioning looks for too terribly long. But, it certainly wasn't going to be the end of the subject. Sadie still wondered what was going on with her and why she was acting the way she was acting.

"Well, I have something to do tonight, so I should get going," Eames said standing up.

"Is that your way of saying you have a date, for lack of better words?" Sadie asked shocking herself as well as Eames and Ariadne.

"Possibly," he answered simply, giving a curious glance in her direction.

"Is that the woman from the bar from a few weeks ago or a new one?" Sadie found herself asking before she could stop herself.

Sadie couldn't understand why she asked the question. It just came to her and she went with it without thinking about it first. Why the hell did she even care who the woman was? It's not like she and Eames had something going on. After all, she was with Arthur, and she and Eames were just friends...or whatever they were. She was sure she didn't even like Eames like that. Right?

Ariadne looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a shocked expression on her face.

So, Sadie wasn't the only one surprised by the question she had just asked. Well, that was a bit of a relief.

"Does it matter?" Eames asked her.

"No, no it doesn't," Sadie answered quickly shaking her head side to side frantically. "Have fun," she said quickly making her way to her room to avoid questions from Ariadne once Eames left.

Cause' quite frankly, Sadie wasn't even sure she had answers to anyone's questions. Including her own. Although, she was definitely going to blame the whole situation on the alcohol, even though, it was obvious that it was a complete and total lie.

* * *

Review?


	12. Too Emotional

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Too Emotional**

A few weeks had passed since Sadie's run in with Nate and her startling revelation of something not being right with her when it came to Eames. It hadn't taken her more than a day or two after to realize why she was acting the way she was acting. It wasn't the alcohol, like she wished she could use as her excuse. It was more than that. And, it really scared her.

It scared her to the point of turning herself into a human recluse. She avoided leaving the apartment or doing anything that meant she'd need to have any contact what-so-ever with either Arthur or Eames, unless she had absolutely no choice, which happened more than she would like it to. She couldn't be near Arthur for too long without guilt over what she was feeling for Eames sending her into panic mode. And, she couldn't be near Eames out of fear that even more feelings for him would reveal themselves and make the already difficult situation even more difficult.

But, unfortunately, she couldn't hide from her feelings forever. Especially not with Arthur there demanding answers to why she was acting so weird lately. Suddenly, her other problems weren't as bad anymore. She almost wouldn't mind if her other problem would take her away and help her avoid facing this one head on.

"You've been avoiding me?" Arthur spoke, his words coming out as more of a question than a statement, as she opened the door to find him leaning against the door frame.

"No, I haven't," Sadie lied straight through her teeth, tightening her grip on the door handle, and looking anywhere but at him, as if to hide the guilty look in her eyes from him, not that she was fooling either of them to begin with.

"Yes, you have," Arthur told her refusing to let her sneak past the subject. "Don't try to pretend like there's not something going on."

Sadie turned and walked into the living room, muttering along the way, "It's not just you."

"Not just me?" he asked walking inside and closing the door behind him.

Slowly, Sadie turned around whispering, "Eames, too."

She knew the guilt in her voice and the guilty look on her face were more than evident when Arthur walked over to her.

"What about Eames, too?" Arthur questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I've been avoiding both of you," Sadie admitted nervously biting her lower lip.

A confused look found it's way onto Arthur's face as he asked, "Why both of us?"

Sadie shrugged trying to think of some way to avoid the truth longer. She looked at the ground and nervously started tapping her foot on the floor.

"Sadie, what aren't you telling me?" Arthur asked cupping her face in his hands and making her look at him.

"Please, don't make me tell you. It'll ruin everything," Sadie said pleading with him.

"It can't be as bad as you think it is."

"Oh, it is."

"How about you tell me and let me be the judge of it?" Arthur asked suggestively dropping his hands from her face.

Sadie contemplated his suggestion before nodding. Now was as good a time as there'd ever be. "I...lately, I've...I, umm..." Sadie tried to get the words out, but only one or two words managed to come out at a time. Nothin she could think of saying sounded good. They all seemed to lead to no where good the more she thought the statements she was thinking through.

"Sadie, you know you can tell me anything," Arthur said soothingly trying to make her feel better and coax her into saying what she was trying to say.

"I...I've been having these...umm...these strange feelings lately...for Eames...or, I guess just strange feelings when he's around in general," Sadie finally forced out.

Sadie was sure he'd be mad, but was surprised when instead he just simply asked her, "What kind of feelings?"

"Umm...well, at one point before we got together it was jealousy and lust and then the day after we got together it was jealousy again..."

"Not surprising."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sadie asked trying to figure out why Arthur wasn't freaking out like someone in a situation like this would usually react.

Arthur shook his head. "Nothing. I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"Why aren't you acting like a normal guy would if his girlfriend were to admit to having feelings for another guy?"

"You should go talk to Eames and see if your feelings for him are more or less what you think they are," Arthur said ignoring Sadie's question.

"Look who's suddenly hiding something from the other one now," Sadie said crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'm not hiding anything. There are just some things that are better left in the past."

"Like what?"

Arthur shrugged. "Just things."

"Arthur..." Sadie started to say.

Arthur cut her off. "I'm sure he's not far from here. I can call him if you want me to."

"You want me to talk to him now?" Sadie asked eyes widening.

Arthur nodded answering, "It's better to figure it out sooner rather than later." Then pointed out, "Also, it's not fair to any of us not to know where we all stand."

"But..." Sadie began to protest.

"Don't you want to be able to leave the apartment?" Arthur asked her.

Sadie nodded. "That'd be nice after being cooped up in here for a week or two trying to avoid you."

"Well, then you can leave the apartment and go talk to Eames. Kill two birds with one stone."

"Oh, you ass! You tricked me into that!" Sadie exclaimed punching him half-heartedly in the arm.

"Ow! Careful there! You punch like a guy, you know," Arthur told her holding onto his arm where she'd just punched him.

Sadie laughed. "Well, I know now. And, sadly, that was only a half-hearted punch, so just imagine what a true punch from me would be."

Arthur thought for a moment before replying, "I'd rather not."

"Good choice," Sadie said with a smile.

"So, should I call him for you?"

Sadie shook her head and answered, "There's no need. I'm sure he's at a bar nearby. I'll just go bar hopping to find him. It'll give me some time to think through how I'm gonna approach him with the information."

"Alright."

"I swear if talking to him about this backfires, Arthur..."

"I'll already be halfway out of town," Arthur joked.

"You mean all the way out of town. Halfway wouldn't even begin to cut it."

"Duly noted."

_**~TheMiddle~**_

Sadie walked into the bar, nervously looking around for Eames. Why had she let Arthur convince her to talk to him about her feelings? She was moments from jumping right out of her skin, if possible. This was not how she wanted to spend the day. But, it did beat staying cooped up in the apartment for the whole day again.

She froze immediately when she spotted him at the bar. Oh god! This was it. There would be no turning back once she approached the bar and he knew she was there. She could always turn back now. But, what good would that do? She'd just be stuck tormenting herself, Arthur, and even Eames with her maybe real or maybe not real feelings still. She couldn't turn back now. Not for any reason at all.

Taking a deep breath, Sadie managed to gain up enough courage to walk over and sit down next to him. There was definitely no turning back now. Not even if she wanted to, which she did. She ordered herself a drink and once the bartender placed it in front of her she took a sip. Then and only then did she have enough courage to turn and say something to him.

"You're not avoiding me anymore?" he asked her when she didn't say anything.

Sadie shook her head. "No, I'm not," she answered looking at him.

"So, you were avoiding me?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Don't feel bad. I was avoiding Arthur, too."

"I don't."

"Good because you shouldn't."

"And, I don't."

Then, there was silence between them.

Sadie took another sip of her drink. "So, I...we need to talk," she spoke using liquid courage as her reason for doing so.

"About what?" he asked looking over at her.

Sadie bit her lower lip and didn't know what to say. Originally she was suppose to think about what she was going to say on her way there, but she was too busy thinking about what if everything went wrong. Even though, now she was realizing that not knowing what to say was probably worse than anything that could've happened had she actually known what she'd say to him.

"I don't know how to bring it up without it being taken the wrong way," Sadie admitted tapping her fingers nervously against the bar.

"Whatever happened to the always blunt Sadie?"

Sadie shrugged. "Apparently, she's hiding away because of what I'm suppose to talk to you about."

"That doesn't seem like you at all."

Sadie laughed. "Yeah, well, it seems that you underestimate how much of a coward I am when it comes to certain things, then. Which is actually probably why I act on certain things instead of saying them whenever I can," she nervously rambled on.

"Like the kiss?" Eames asked with a smirk.

Sadie nodded, but didn't speak, too afraid of saying something she shouldn't.

"Is whatever you need to talk to me about now something you can show me?"

Sadie's eyes widened at his question. As a matter of fact, it was. But, there was no way she could do that. "Actually, it is...but, I can't and won't do it."

"And, why not?"

"Because I don't cheat," Sadie answered before she could even think her answer over.

"You don't cheat?"

"You know what? Nevermind. Pretend I never even mentioned anything. Just forget it," Sadie said silently beating herself up for her very poor choice of words.

Eames opened his mouth to say something and Sadie's breath caught in her throat. She hoped he wouldn't say anything because she really didn't want to continue the conversation. Even if she should've...she was becoming a coward. But, then she sighed a sigh of relief when he closed his mouth and didn't say anything.

Oh, yes she was definitely a coward now.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

It was about 4:00 in the afternoon when Sadie returned home. She collapsed on the couch and seconds later she heard a faint knock at the apartment door. She sighed as she stood up from the couch and walked over to the door opening it without finding out who it was first. But, it turned out to be a stupid move on her part. By time she realized her mistake she was already staring at the fast moving butt of a gun coming at her face and then suddenly everything went black.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

It was only a little past five when Ariadne got home. She froze at the top of the stairs when she saw that the apartment door was open. That was definitely weird. Sadie never left the door open or even unlocked for that matter, especially when she was home alone. Not since all of the weird occurences and Sadie's fear for her life had begun.

Catiously, Ariadne walked towards the door. Peaking inside she didn't see anything else out of the ordinary, so she walked in slowly. Right away, she heard a noise from below her and looked down to see what made it. Her eyes widened when she bent down and realized she had stepped on a phone that looked a lot like Sadie's phone. The phone that Sadie never went anywhere without.

It wasn't hard for her to put two and two together after that. The door being wide open, Sadie not being there, and Sadie's phone being there on the floor. Freaking out and already on the verge of tears, Ariadne dropped her things and grabbed the phone from the counter pressing the speed dial which just so happened to be Arthur's number.

Ariadne exclaimed through tears as soon as he answered the phone, "Sadie's gone! I think they've taken her!"

Not that she or even Arthur had even the slightest clue who _they_ really were. There hadn't exactly been much to go on to figure out who _they_ were. Not even for someone as good at his job as Arthur. A fact that only freaked them all out that much more. God only knew what _they _were capable of doing to Sadie in order to get something out of her.

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	13. Skyscraper

**Writing a torture scene is not as easy as what I usually write, especially when Sadie wanted to go her own way and act how she wanted to act. Even though, I honestly don't agree with most of her choices in the first part.**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.**

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**Chapter 13: Skyscraper**

When Sadie woke up she was laying on a cool, damp floor. She moved slightly and winced at the slight pain she felt. She assumed the pain was probably from her having been thrown into the small, pitch black, musty smelling room upon arrival. She felt like she was in a dungeon that would be the setting of a horror movie. No matter how much she loved horror movies, it was a whole new situation to actually feel like a part of one. It no longer seemed amusing like watching a horror movie was at times. Instead, it was scary and nerveracking. It was the fear of the unknown that freaked her out the most.

Sadie pushed herself up off of the floor, standing up, and unneccessairly brushing off her clothes. She didn't even have time to do anything else before a door flew open and light poured into the room catching her off guard and temporairly blinding her. Once her eyes adjusted to the sudden intrusion of light, she was well aware of three new presences in the room. They were all dressed in black from their masks down to their combat boots.

The unmistakeable sound of the safety on a gun being taken off echoed through the room. Sadie's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Well, that wasn't good at all. It didn't take a genius to realize that they definitely meant business if they were already taking the safety off the gun before even getting started with whatever they were planning on doing.

"Give us any problems and I won't hesitate to use it on you," the guy with the gun snarled. "Understand?"

All Sadie could manage to do was nod her head at him. Every word she could think of saying was currently stuck in her throat, refusing to come out of her mouth. One wrong word could mean the difference between life and death. Even though, she wasn't dumb. She already knew she most likely wouldn't make it out alive unless she was saved.

Not wanting to give up on life just yet, Sadie allowed curiousity to get the best of her and she found herself asking, "Why didn't you kidnap me sooner?"

"We were given strict orders not to shed any blood," one of the three guys answered.

"What do you mean?" Sadie asked trying to deny the inevitable, which was the guys asking questions and killing her when they didn't get the answers they wanted.

"Our orders were to get you, but not to kill anyone in the process. And, because your "bodyguards" were always with you nine times out of ten it was hard to follow all of the orders. But, we finally managed," the other one without the gun explained.

"Seriously? Who wants something so badly, but wouldn't do anything to get it?"

"Enough with the questions. It's our turn now," the guy with the gun hissed.

Well, that didn't go on for as long as she had hoped it would.

Sadie didn't even give any of them the chance to ask anything. She already knew what they were going to ask. "I don't know anything. I don't know where he is either. Unless, the grave counts."

"So, you're gonna make this hard on all of us, then?" the guy with the gun snarled.

"I'm not making this hard on anybody! I don't know anything!" Sadie exclaimed figuring that if she was gonna end up dying anyways that she'd at least go with her dignity in tact.

"Obviously you know something if you knew what was going to be asked before it was even asked," one of the guys without the gun pointed out.

"I didn't ask you!" Sadie hissed and instantly felt a hand connect with her face. "Fuck!" she exclaimed at the stinging sensation.

Seconds later she felt the barrel of the gun being placed against her head. "What did I tell you earlier?"

What Sadie did next took even her by shock. Instead of answering the guy's question, she reached forward and pushed with all her might against him. Then, she dove to the side just in time for the gun to go off and for the bullet to lodge itself into her shoulder as opposed to her head.

"So you're a dumb bitch, then?" the guy hissed adding insult to injury as he kicked her when she was already down on the ground clutching her shoulder in pain.

"Obviously not as dumb as you think," Sadie said through clenched teeth. "My shoulders got the bullet...not my head," Sadie muttered under her breath.

The guy stood over her pointing the gun at her head. "Say that again. I dare you," he threatened.

"What are you going to do kill me?" Sadie asked looking up at him. "You kill me, then you don't get the information that you want," Sadie taunted him. Then she suddenly recanted. Let the mind games begin. "Even though, I really don't know anything."

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to kill you if you don't know anything."

Suddenly the other two guys came forward. One grabbed the gun away from him and the other spoke, "She's screwing with your head. You can't kill her. She knows more than she's leading on. She's his daughter for crying out loud. There's no way that she really doesn't know where her dad is. What daughter doesn't?"

"This one. Unless, like I said before...if the grave counts, then I know where he is," Sadie said slowly moving into a sitting position. "So, you're suddenly not as badass as you were moments ago," Sadie spoke quietly, but apparently not quite enough.

She was suddenly pulled into a standing postition by the guy who was previously holding the gun. "Just because I'm not going to kill you, it doesn't mean I'm not going to do other things. I will get the information that I want. One way or another," he assured her.

Sadie gulped nervously and then only seconds later she felt the pain of the first blow to her face followed by her being held back by the other two and being hit repeatedly in the face and stomach. Lesson learned. Being cooperative gets you hurt , of course, it was too late now. She had already only made it worse. The repeated blows to her face and mid-section were unneeded proof of that. The fact that she succumbed to the pain of her injuries and lost conciousness only minutes later, even more unneeded proof.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

Ariadne ran down the hallway and stopped abruptly in front of Nate's apartment. Frantically, she pounded on the door.

"It's open!" Nate called out.

"Where is she?" Ariadne asked throwing the door open and bursting into the apartment.

"Where's who?" Nate asked not making any move to get up from his spot on the couch.

"Sadie!" Ariadne said.

"What about Sadie?" Nate asked nonchalantly.

"I know you know where she is!" Ariadne exclaimed annoyed by his blatant .

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, Ariadne," Nate said looking at her with the blankest, uncaring stare.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Ariadne hissed wanting nothing more than to slap the look off his face, but now was not the time for that.

Nate shrugged. "No, I really don't."

"You know a lot more than you're letting on," Ariadne spoke through clenched teeth. "Sadie was kidnapped for crying out loud! And, you're sitting here acting like you're unphased and that you know nothing at all when in actuality you probably know more than any of us do."

Nate raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do I now?"

"Sadie's life is at risk, Nate! Now is not the time to act like a total douche bag!" Ariadne exclaimed her hatred for Nate growing with each and every passing second.

"So, it is and isn't," Nate sighed still unphased.

Ariadne scoffed. "You jackass! You are truly one very evil person who only cares about himself!" she hissed shaking her head in disbelief. "Obviously, you never really loved her like you always said you did," Ariadne seethed at him turning to storm out.

"There's an abandoned warehouse," Nate suddenly said standing up right before she left.

She stopped abruptly and turned to look at him.

"Where at?" she asked.

Nate ignored the question and slightly smirked, "I'll tell you where at on one condition."

"Nate," Ariadne hissed in a threatening tone.

"Do you want to know where she is or not?" Nate asked crossing his arms.

"What condition?" she asked seeing no other option.

"Sadie finds out that you and those two guys betrayed her and performed Inception on her," Nate answered with a devious smirk.

And, suddenly it was as if the world had stopped because of just that one statement.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

Sadie came to sometime later, but this time she quickly found out she was in a sitting position and she couldn't move. Looking down, she realized she was sitting in a chair, her legs tied to the front chair legs and each of her arms tied down to the chairs arms. She tried to move her arms and legs, but she was tied too tightly and the more she moved the tighter the ropes felt like they got around her.

The pain in her face, mid-section, and shoulder was almost unbearable, but there was nothing she could do. Being kidnapped and held captive by three guys who wanted information that she didn't have sucked. She almost wished she could erase the past two years from her life and say no to Nate when he asked her out the one time she finally caved. It would definitely beat being in this predicament. But, unfortunately, time travel isn't real.

"Look, who's finally awake again," a voice said causing Sadie to look in the direction the voice was coming from.

"Just let me go. I don't know anything," Sadie said quietly.

"We'll let you go once you tell us what we want to know," the guy wearing a mask said.

"I told you. I don't know anything," Sadie replied wincing slightly as she moved only an inch in the wrong direction and pain shot through her.

"So, you haven't had enough to cave yet have you?" a different voice asked and she saw a second man enter the room.

"No, don't. I can't...no more, please. Please no more," Sadie pleaded close to tears again.

"Well, then tell us what we want to know. Where's your dad?"

"He's dead! In his freaking grave somewhere!" Sadie exclaimed quickly turning her head when she saw a fist coming at her.

The blow to the back of her head was enough to make her and the chair topple over. It hurt worse when Sadie's head hit the concrete floor. She didn't have time to cry or do anything before she and the chair were being picked back up and placed in an upright position.

"Tell us the truth!" a third one said entering the room as well.

Sadie couldn't believe her luck. Of course, it'd be three guys. Not one, not two, but three. God only knew if there'd be more. Or if the others would just stay out there guarding the place just in case. Even through the pain and as the minutes and hours went by, Sadie continued to hope and pray that it wouldn't be much longer before Arthur and Eames burst through the door to save her. She refused to believe it wouldn't happen. It was all she had left to make her fight for her life longer.

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	14. Dangerous To Know

**I'm sad right now! This is the final chapter!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.**

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**Chapter 14: Dangerous To Know**

It had felt like an eternity since the torture had started up yet again. She continued to tell them that she knew nothing. That her dad was dead and that she hadn't known anything about the program that they so badly wanted. Each time she earned a painful blow to the face or on occasion her stomach. Sadie could only imagine what her face would look like if she got out of here alive.

Sadie cried out as another sharp pain coarsed through her body, "I told you already! My dad is dead! He has been dead for weeks now!"

One of the guys insisted with an annoyed tone of voice, "No, he's not. Quit lying to us."

"He is dead! Who the hell would lie about such a thing?!" Sadie hissed not caring whether she got hit again. "My life doesn't mean enough to me for me to make up such a fucking lie just to stay alive!"

Her face and stomach were already going to be bruised as it is. What damage would a few more do that the first ones hadn't already? Suprisingly, the hit that she had expected never came.

"So, they really did lie to you?" the first guy who had been doing most of the pain inflicting laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Sadie asked suddenly feeling sick to her stomach upon hearing that she'd been lied to by whoever they were.

The second guy then said, "Just show her the pictures."

Sadie looked up at them and dared to ask them, "What pictures?"

The third guy suddenly came up with some pictures and showed Sadie recent pictures of her dad alive and well.

Sadie's eyes widened. No, it couldn't be. Her dad was dead. They said he was dead. Although, she never did believe it at first, but then she woke up one morning and it suddenly hit her that her dad was really dead.

"Oh my god!" Sadie exclaimed finally putting the pieces together. Arthur was a point man, Ariadne was an architect, and Eames was a forger. They performed Inception on her. "They lied to me! They fucking betrayed me."

No one had time to say or do anything else before the door burst open. Everything afterwards was a flash. All she heard was yelling, gunshots, and loud footsteps. The next thing she knew Arthur and Eamers were there. Sadie tried to contain the anger that was quickly consuming her as Arthur kneeled before her to untie her feet and Eames untied her hands from behind the chair.

"Your face," Arthur said reaching out to touch her.

She angrily slapped his hand away not in the mood for nor wanting his pity and stood up abruptly wincing as the pain in her stomach, arms, and face sent her toppling over as soon as she was completely free of the ropes that had been containing her. Arthur and Eames both helped her up and even though she could barely stand on her own two feet, Sadie forced herself to power throught.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me. Arthur," she hissed through clenched teeth shaking them both off of her.

Arthur and Eames were shocked by her anger, but there was no time to question it. They had to get out of there now if they wanted to live. There was no time wasted in getting out there. Just as they had gotten out into the open there was a swarm of guys with guns. Sadie was pushed behind a hard surface followed by Arthur and Eames who were reloading and shooting their guns.

She was in so much pain right now, but she was even more angry than hurt. Well, okay, in a sense she was hurt really badly, but it wasn't hurt in the sense of physical pain. It was more emotional pain. Sadie was livid about what her kidnappers had showed her and the revelation that had come seconds after seeing the pictures. Her anger towards Arthur, Eames, and Ariadne helped drown out some of the pain coarsing through her veins.

Sadie looked around to see if there was any way for her to get out of the line of fire. When she noticed a small deserted alley, Sadie decided it was worth a shot and took off in the direction of the alley. She knew it wasn't the wisest thing to do, but she couldn't bare to be anywhere near either Arthur or Eames right now. They had betrayed her trust and she wanted nothing to do with them. Even if they had just saved her from what was sure to have ended up being a certain death situation for her had they not found her when they did.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

Sadie hadn't made it but so far before Arthur and Eames had caught up with her. In the end, the pain had been too much, and she realized just how stupid she was to let her anger get the best of her. She was still as angry as ever at them, but she wasn't completely stupid. She let them help her to the safe house or more like warehouse.

She avoided their questions and ignored everything they said. Once she was cleaned up a bit, as much as she could be without going to a hospital, she wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep. More importantly she wanted to be alone. Luckily, neither Arthur nor Eames questioned her and they left her alone for the night.

Sadie winced at the pain when she leaned against the small bathroom counter. Just looking at herself in the mirror made her burst into tears. Her face was swollen...almost every inch of it. She looked like a victim in a gruesome horror movie. When she lifted her shirt, she could see bruises that were already formed and other brusies in the process of forming. It wasn't hard to tell that she had a few cracked ribs as well.

She couldn't believe her luck. How could she be so unlucky enough to have a spy as a father. A spy father who sort of had a big part in her appearance now. Maybe not directly, but indirectly was just as bad in this case. And, why did she have a cousin who would lie to her about her dad being dead and who would help perform an invasion on her mind to plant such a cruel idea into her head?

Why did she have a boyfriend...well, now ex boyfriend who would invade her dreams and mind without her permission and lie to her about it? Also, why did she have a so called "friend" that she thought she felt something for who would lie to her and help invade her mind as well? Although, she could say in a way she blew that one herself by not telling him the truth. Maybe things would've been different on his part had he known Sadie's true feelings of sorts for him? Although, they sure didn't change Arthur's actions.

What had she ever done in the past to deserve any of this?

Needless to say, Sadie didn't do much sleeping at all that night.

_**~TheMiddle~**_

It was light out when Sadie woke up. She hadn't slept much, so she was exhausted still. Pain was still coursing through her body as she moved to get up. She heard voices coming from outside of the room she was in and she slowly walked over to the door and pressed her ear up against it listening as closely as she could trying to hear what was being said.

"So, all three of the ones who tortured her are dead, then?" she heard Ariadne ask.

"Yeah, they are. Most of the others are, too," she heard Eames answer.

"Does she really know the truth now?" Ariadne asked catiously.

"Yes," she heard Arthur answer.

Sadie decided that it was time for her to get the truth and then to leave. She had decided while tossing and turning painfully throughout the night that she wanted to get the truth and then to get as far away from all three of them as she possibly could. Sadie took a step back from the door and twisted the handle pulling it open walking slowly out into the open warehouse.

"When did you do it?" Sadie asked not being able to stop herself from knowing the whole truth, even though she knew she wouldn't like it.

Arthur, Ariadne, and Eames all turned their heads in her direction.

"When did you do it?" Sadie repeated her previous question.

"The night you stayed at my place," Arthur answered shame in his voice while avoiding eye contact with her.

Sadie was shocked and felt even worse than she had seconds ago. "Wait, this...this thing between us all started because you wanted to perform Inception on me to make me believe my dad was dead?!"

"It was his idea."

"What?" Sadie asked not being able to believe her ears as she walked up to Arthur. "Who do you think you are?! My dad would never do such a thing!" Sadie hissed slapping him across the face before she could stop herself.

"He did, though. It was his idea, Sadie," Ariadne said stepping between Arthur and Sadie.

Sadie shook her head. "No, he wouldn't. He...he wouldn't!" Sadie exclaimed taking a step back. "I can't believe I trusted any of you. I just...no. I can't believe that any of you would do this to me."

"Sadie, love..." Eames started to cut in.

Sadie interrupted him instantly, hissing, "You betrayed me, too, Eames! I trusted you just as much as I trusted Arthur and Ariadne. I told you things that nobody else even knows...and yet, it was all built on a lie!" Sadie shook her head in disbelief.

"Sadie, it really was your dad's idea," Ariadne spoke before Sadie could protest.

Sadie opened her mouth to say something, but Ariadne cut her off before any words would come out.

"We only did it in hopes that it'd protect you more if you thought your dad was dead. If you thought he was dead, then it'd be easy to assume you were too busy grieving and that you knew nothing about where he really was," she said.

"And, did it protect me?" Sadie asked through clenched teeth.

No one answered and no one made eye contact with her either. The shame they were all feeling was evident without even needing to see or hear them.

"Yeah, exactly. My face is so freaking bruised and swollen, I have a brusied stomach, some broken ribs, and a bullet lodged into my shoulder. Yet, because of the gun shot wound, I can't go to the hospital because a police statement always follows a gun shot wound and there's no way that I could tell the police the truth. I'm stuck feeling miserable like this. So, really can you honestly say I was protected by that?" Sadie asked sarcastically. "You all betrayed me for no reason at all. It was all for nothing in the end!"

"Sadie, please..." Ariadne began to say.

Sadie said nothing for a moment before asking, "How much did he pay you?"

"Is that really important?"

Sadie didn't pay attention to who asked the question, instead she just answered speaking to all three of them instead, "Obviously, if you were all willing to go through all that unneccessary trouble to perform Inception on me to plant the stupid idea of my dad being dead in my mind, he must've paid you a lot."

"Way more than we should've taken."

"Sadie, please, just..." Ariadne spoke up.

Sadie shook her head and held her hand up to stop her from saying anything else. She had to get out of here. She couldn't be in the same room as any of them any longer. Hell, she didn't even want to be in the same country as them right now. They had all known the truth and lied to her. They had betrayed her trust in one of the worst ways possible. At this point, she didn't know if she'd ever be able to forgive any of them.

"No, just no. Don't say another word," Sadie said shaking her head in disbelief. "You know what? Just...you can all just go to hell!" Sadie exclaimed turning and storming out of the warehouse and most importantly out of their lives.

If only it was really that easy.

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Review?

**A sequel titled Unbroken is in the works!**


	15. Author's Note

Just a heads up, the first chapter of the sequel has been posted. It's called Unbroken. Hope you enjoy!


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